Bitcoin Adoption Spreads From Wall Street to Retail as Carrefour Tests Discount

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Bitcoin Adoption Spreads From Wall Street to Retail

A French Carrefour Express franchise has started offering 20% discounts to shoppers paying their grocery bills with Bitcoin, according to posts on social media and local reporting. This move has attracted worldwide attention given that Carrefour is among the world’s largest grocery groups, operating over 14,000 stores across more than 40 countries.

Local news reports and social media posts indicate that customers can use Bitcoin to checkout via the Lightning Network, a payment layer built to enable faster and cheaper Bitcoin transactions. While some Carrefour network stores in France have previously experimented with Bitcoin acceptance through franchise arrangements, this promotion stands out by directly incentivizing customers to use Bitcoin at checkout.

Financial Institutions Expanded Crypto Rails Throughout 2025

The year 2025 saw significant expansion in Bitcoin access through regulated exchange-traded products and infrastructure development for tokenized assets and stablecoins. Major asset managers extended their reach beyond traditional markets—BlackRock prepared to launch a Bitcoin exchange-traded product in Europe, building on its successful U.S. spot product.

Fidelity also signaled deeper engagement by experimenting with a U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin, reflecting major asset managers’ interest in regulated tokenized cash that flows easily across networks rather than through legacy systems.

At the payments level, major platforms accelerated stablecoin adoption. Stripe introduced Stablecoin Financial Accounts in May 2025, positioning stablecoins as a global money management medium for businesses across multiple countries. The platform also expanded stablecoin subscription options.

PayPal significantly increased its stablecoin strategy in 2025. In April, the company enabled PayPal and Venmo account holders to earn rewards on PYUSD balances and use them for payments and transfers. By July, PayPal launched a “Pay with Crypto” product positioning crypto transactions as a faster settlement tool for cross-border merchant payments.

In June 2025, a major exchange introduced tokenized stocks to EU clients, using blockchain rails to represent equities and ETFs, further extending crypto-related products to the region. These developments reflect a broader institutional trend: major financial players are not merely offering crypto as an investment product, but building payment and settlement systems that utilize blockchain networks as financial infrastructure.

Regulation and Custody: Drivers of Institutional Adoption

Regulated custody and clear supervisory frameworks have historically limited institutional crypto adoption. Several 2025 developments signaled movement toward deeper integration with regulated financial structures.

A major institutional custody provider introduced Stablecoin-as-a-Service in 2025, offering a turnkey solution for issuing and operating stablecoins with built-in compliance and operational layers. The firm also emphasized international licensing expansion, particularly through regulatory authorities in key jurisdictions.

In the U.S., federal regulatory actions gained momentum by late 2025. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency preliminarily or conditionally approved national trust bank structures for several crypto companies, marking a significant regulatory milestone. This approval signaled the OCC’s willingness to integrate crypto infrastructure providers into the regulated banking system.

Stablecoin compliance frameworks also strengthened across jurisdictions. Circle highlighted its compliance track record in Canada, becoming the first stablecoin issuer to meet new listing requirements ahead of non-compliant stablecoins facing delisting. In the U.S., Circle submitted an OCC application and subsequently received conditional approval for a national trust charter, demonstrating stablecoin issuers’ commitment to increased regulation.

Payment networks accelerated stablecoin settlement timelines. In December 2025, Visa announced USDC settlement availability in the United States through partner issuers and acquirers, positioning this as a modernization of settlement flows. While stablecoin settlement volumes were increasing, they remained minor relative to Visa’s overall payment volumes.

The Carrefour Express Bitcoin discount experiment arrives at a pivotal moment. As retailers potentially adopt similar incentives, real-world adoption may be constrained by consumer habits, merchant integration costs, or unclear consumer benefits at checkout. The promotion represents a local experiment that has generated global discussion, coinciding with banks, asset managers, fintech companies, and payment networks building crypto infrastructure throughout 2025.