Residents of Switzerland can now use cryptocurrencies to pay taxes, parking tickets, public services, and tuition fees. In addition, McDonald’s currently accepts Bitcoin as payment in Lugano, Switzerland.
Switzerland’s Lugano aspires to become Europe’s Bitcoin Capital. It has partnered with stablecoin issuer Tether to establish Bitcoin as a form of payment. Tether and Lugano’s LVGA tokens point to the city’s intrinsic legal tender. The move is beyond other Swiss municipalities that are paying taxes using cryptocurrencies.
Like El Salvador, Lugano also aims to enable the use of cryptocurrencies to pay taxes. This will allow all businesses to use cryptocurrencies for their day-to-day transactions seamlessly.
Lugano and Cryptocurrency Adoption
Thursday’s “Plan B” event moderated by Lugano’s Mayor, Michele Foretti, was described as a “de facto” legalization. The city announced plans for Lugano to host the Bitcoin World Forum from 26 to 28 October 2022. This is a huge step and will encourage crypto adoption because Lugano is Switzerland’s ninth-largest city, with a population of just over 62,000. It is located in the Italian-speaking southern part of the country.
Tether will create a fund of up to CHF 100 million, which will fund regional blockchain-based startups. This will create crypto unicorns, a $1 billion worth project. Polygon will also serve as an infrastructure partner for Lugano’s stablecoin payments.
A third cryptocurrency de facto recognized as legal tender is the LVGA token. The City of Lugano has made many strides in the Web3 arena. They built a blockchain called 3Achain. This blockchain is already in use by around 30 partners in the Swiss public and private sectors. The city aims to provide scholarships to its 500+ students studying cryptocurrency.
McDonald’s accepts Bitcoin as Payment in El Salvador too
Bitcoin as payment is becoming a reality after El Salvador officially recognized cryptocurrencies as legal tender. El Salvador’s approval of Bitcoin (BTC) as a legal tender has opened up new payment options for its citizens. Fast food empire McDonald’s is reportedly accepting cryptocurrency payments over the Lightning Network.
Journalist Aaron van Werden broke the news on Tuesday after visiting a McDonald’s restaurant in El Salvador. He was presented with his printed QR code and directed to the Lightning Network billing page. McDonald’s had 19 locations in Latin American countries as of 2019. According to Aaron;
“Just walked into a McDonald’s in San Salvador to see if I could pay for my breakfast with bitcoin, tbh fully expecting to be told no. But low and behold, they printed a ticket with QR that took me to a webpage with a Lightning invoice, and now I’m enjoying my Desayuno traditional!”
Closing Thoughts
Lightning is a Layer 2 payment protocol. It is intended to make BTC transactions more scalable. Bitcoin has been successful as an investable asset. It has seen limited acceptance as a medium of exchange. Satoshi Nakamoto’s White paper in 2008 focused on Bitcoin payments. It described BTC as electronic money.
The Lightning Network will prove invaluable as El Salvador wants Bitcoin payments to become widespread. El Salvador’s Bitcoin Gambit could prove successful by streamlining international remittances. This will increase citizen wealth and attract crypto-focused entrepreneurs to the country.
