Lugano, Switzerland has become the second city in the country to accept Bitcoin as a legal form of payment. This decision was made in March 2022 and was supported by a partnership with Tether, a leading stablecoin issuer. Tether will operate a validator node for the city’s own stablecoin, Luga (LVGA), which is pegged to the Swiss Franc and based on the 3Achain blockchain. Residents of Lugano can receive cashback in LVGA when they pay through the official MyLugano app.The partnership between Lugano and Tether is part of a larger economic project known as “Plan B” which seeks to secure the city’s place in the emerging Crypto Valley. The project has two investment funds with a combined 110 million USD to support Bitcoin adoption. Tether also reports that over 350 local stores in the region accept Bitcoin and USDT as payment methods. Additionally, municipal payments such as taxes and parking fees can be paid with cryptocurrencies.At the beginning of the year, the city of Lugano made history by issuing a digital bond based on blockchain technology. A month later, the Swiss National Bank accepted the bond as the first digital native asset as collateral for SNB repos. Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino expressed satisfaction with the progress of the collaboration and encouraged other communities to learn from Lugano’s “impressive, visionary administration” that is driving the city’s future.

Information	Details
Geography	Europe
Countries	🇨🇭
Sentiment	positive
Relevance Score	8
People	Paolo Ardoino, SNB-Repos
Companies	Tether, 3Achain, Swiss National Bank, FINMA, MyLugano
Currencies	USD, USDT, LVGA, Bitcoin, Ethereum
Securities	None