Residents of Toulouse, France can now pay for public transport tickets using cryptocurrencies. This initiative is the first of its kind in Europe.
Tisséo, the public transport operator in Toulouse, announced the launch of a new initiative that allows passengers to pay for trips on the metro, buses, trams, and funiculars with BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, USDT, and over 70 other cryptocurrencies.
According to Sacha Briand, Deputy Mayor of Toulouse and Head of the Finance Department at Tisséo, the initiative makes Toulouse the first city in Europe to integrate crypto payments into its public transport system. He believes this development demonstrates the local government’s commitment to staying at the forefront of digital innovation and adapting to the needs of users. Briand also added that the initiative aims to attract young people and tourists who actively use cryptocurrencies.
Briand noted that around 18% of French citizens already own cryptocurrency, and in the coming years, the share of digital asset users in the country could reach 30%.
The new service is available through the Tisséo app on Android. Payments are processed by payment provider Lyzi, which converts the digital assets into euros and transfers them to Tisséo’s account. In the first two weeks after the initiative’s launch, only four passengers used crypto payments. Journalists from Le Parisien interviewed passengers exiting the Basso-Cambo metro station in Toulouse and found that users weren’t likely to pay for their rides with crypto in the near future, as they either didn’t have a crypto wallet or didn’t view digital assets as a payment method.
Cryptocurrency payments for public transport are only available in certain countries, and in some cases, only central bank digital currencies (CBDC) are accepted. For example, in China, passengers can pay with e-CNY, and in Jamaica, with Jam-Dex.
