Lugano After One Year on its Bitcoin and Tether Standard

It’s been one year since the Swiss city of Lugano established Bitcoin and Tether (USDT) as a de facto legal tender within its borders. Since then, how has its adoption initiative fared?

On Monday, Tether published a breakdown of various milestones the city has reached around crypto infrastructure and education under “Plan B.”

• According to Tether’s post, over 150 merchants around Lugano are now accepting 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.

• Lugano has also 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.
• Per the initiative’s original plansthe city’s municipal services now take payment in crypto, helping foster a circular economy for cryptocurrencies.
• On educationTether 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 fair, connecting blockchain industry employers with dormant talent.
• The Plan B Forum – a conference focused on expanding Bitcoin adoption – took place in October 2022, and was home to over 1000 Bitcoin lightning network transactions, 130 USDT transactions, and 200 LVGA transactions.
• Two countries thus far have officially established Bitcoin as legal tender: El Salvadorand the Central African Republic (CAR).