Ernst & Young Swiss will be the first company to pay with Bitcoins

Consulting firm EY Switzerland (formerly Ernst & Young) will be the first professional services company to offer its clients the possibility of settling their invoices in Bitcoins. The option will be available from January 2017 onwards.

The new Bitcoin ATM is part of an internal EY Switzerland digitalization program and is intended to make employees more familiar with the topics of blockchains and cryptocurrencies. “We don’t only want to talk about digitalization, but also actively drive this process together with our employees and our clients. It is important to us that everybody gets on board and prepares themselves for the revolution set to take place in the business world through blockchains, smart contracts and digital currencies. Blockchains are a very quickly developing technology that can permanently change many sectors. In Switzerland’s role as an important financial and industrial center and to further its development as a digital hub, it is essential that it be a pioneer in this area,” says Marcel Stalder, CEO of EY Switzerland.

On 7 November, consultancy EY and blockchain technology provider The Bitfury Group, San Francisco-based company, signed an agreement to spread to the professional services sector to expand the use of blockchain beyond finance and into several sectors, including technology, energy and public services.

In Switzerland people can buy bitcoins at railway ticket machines, and use them to pay for government services and trade on the Swiss stock market.