• Lugano, Switzerland has established Bitcoin and Tether (USDT) as de facto legal tender within its borders for one year.
• The city has established over 150 merchants that accept Bitcoin, Tether, and LVGA – Lugano’s Swiss-franc pegged stablecoin – for payments.
• The Plan B Foundation aims to expand acceptance to 2500 more merchants by the end of 2023.
Lugano Establishes Bitcoin and Tether as Legal Tender
It’s been one year since the Swiss city of Lugano established Bitcoin and Tether (USDT) as de facto legal tender within its borders. Since then, how has its adoption initiative fared?
Crypto Infrastructure & Education
Tether published a breakdown of various milestones the city has reached around crypto infrastructure and education under “Plan B.” Over 150 merchants now accept Bitcoin, Tether, and LVGA – Lugano’s Swiss-franc pegged stablecoin – for payments. The Plan B Foundation plans to expand acceptance to 2500 more merchants by the end of 2023.
In addition, Lugano issued the very first blockchain-based municipal bond. The 6-year debt issuance, worth 100 million CHF ($107 million), can be traded directly on the SDX exchange, which is owned by Switzerland’s financial market infrastructure provider. All municipal services now take payment in crypto fostering a circular economy for cryptocurrencies.
On education front, Tether hosted a summer school for 86 students from 26 countries to learn about crypto from experts, and provided 500 grants to further their learning. Summer school students were also provided the chance to connect with potential employers at the Plan B job fairs connecting blockchain industry employers with dormant talent.
Adoption Expansion Initiatives
The Plan B Foundation is looking into expanding its work beyond Lugano in other cities across Europe with similar initiatives such as accepting cryptocurrencies like BTC or USDT in physical shops or developing new products based on blockchain technology that could help drive adoption even further in different sectors such as tourism or finance among others.
Long-Term Goals & Outreach
The long-term goal of this project is to create an environment where everyone can use digital currencies easily without having to worry about price volatility or lack of knowledge about them. Additionally they are working hard on creating educational materials targeting all levels so people can learn not just basics but also advanced topics related to cryptocurrency usage and development allowing them to make better decisions when it comes investing or using them daily life activities such us paying bills etc…
Conclusion
This project shows that there are still many opportunities available in terms of cryptocurrency adoption if we put our minds together towards this goal while educating ourselves along the way so we can understand better what digital currencies have offer us today and what they will offer us tomorrow!
Recent Comments