The Central European Country, Switzerland is all set to become the first nation to legalize cryptocurrency and legal tender. The Swiss city of Lugano will soon allow the citizens to pay for their taxes and other errands through cryptocurrency payment services.
The announcement was made on March 3, Thursday through a Livestream held by the Mayor of the City of Lugano Michele Foletti, CTO of Tether Paolo Ardoino, and Pietro Poretti, the director of the City of Lugano.
Lugano aims to become the continent’s first city to implement cryptocurrency payment services in its system. The city of Lugano has partnered with Tether to put in place Bitcoin (BTC), Tether(USDT), and its LVGA Points token as legal tender in the city. It means that citizens will be able to pay their taxes, purchase goods, and make transactions using Bitcoin, Tether, and LVGA tokens. The authorities are working to make the cryptocurrencies as de-facto currencies which will work identically to the Swiss Franc.
Further, Tether has instituted a Center of Excellence for Blockchain Adoption aiming to become a major European Blockchain Hub. The association proposes a successful practical approach towards blockchain technology and its education in the local community.
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The event chose to disclose the project by naming it ‘Plan B’ with a mission to establish new homes in the city for blockchain startups. Also, it proposes to be the best place for networking events and hosting Bitcoin meetups and social workshops.
What is ‘Plan B’ ?
According to Plan B, Tether has initiated a $100 million to fund new startups and help them in establishing headquarters, locating employees in the city. In addition, the billion-dollar crypto company focus to provide blockchain technology education to the local citizens by collaborating with local universities and research institutions. The efforts also consist to foster 500 student grants to prepare functional and skillful human resources.
As stated by Lugano’s Mayor, the city has recognized many transactional movements in the form of non-fungible tokens, cryptocurrencies including its LVGA points token in recent times. He also stated,
“Lugano is investing in its future. In recent years, we have already implemented blockchain-based solutions including the MyLugano app and its LVGA Points payment token, the Lugano digital franc and the 3Achain blockchain infrastructure.”
Moreover, Poretti told that over 5,000 citizens of Lugano successfully performed transactions through LVGA payment tokens daily. He, also mentioned that over 200 businesses have already formulated BTC, USDT, and LVGA in their payment infrastructure. For this, a fund of $3.26 million has been allocated to stimulate the actions to adopt crypto assets.
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