In Lugano, Bitcoin is used not as a speculative asset but as a payment method for nearly everything: from coffee to municipal bills, including taxes. The city built an ecosystem where BTC serves as the payment medium, USDT ensures operational stability, and LVGA acts as a local loyalty token with cashback. To reduce volatility risk, payments are instantly converted into Swiss francs via Bitcoin Suisse, and the city does not hold volatile crypto assets.
How Lugano Became a Bitcoin City
The Plan ₿ project emerged as a partnership between the city and Tether, aiming to rebuild the payment infrastructure rather than enforce cryptocurrency usage. The city's approach is voluntary: both shops and residents receive support with minimal friction for merchants. The ecosystem relies on three pillars that made everyday use possible:
- BTC as the primary payment asset;
- USDT for stability in large transactions;
- LVGA as a local loyalty token accepted for city services.
Benefits for Businesses and Residents
For merchants, economic incentives outweighed ideology: payments via Lightning typically cost less than 1%, significantly lower than standard card fees. To remove entry barriers, the city successfully distributed free smart POS terminals from GoCrypto to over 350 vendors, simplifying cryptocurrency acceptance in daily commerce. For examples of international crypto payment adoption, see how other points of sale started accepting Bitcoin payments: accepting Bitcoin payments, which is part of the global picture.
Paying Taxes and Fines with Cryptocurrency
The city expanded technology use to municipal bills: invoices come with a standard Swiss QR code that can be scanned by any wallet to pay in BTC or USDT. Upon confirming the amount, the exchange rate is locked for a short window to avoid slippage, then the payment is automatically converted into francs via Bitcoin Suisse. This setup automates financial flows while limiting volatility risk for the city treasury.
Infrastructure Development and Business Attraction
Plan ₿ became a hub for community and business: the forum attracted 4,000 participants from 64 countries, and the city issued its fifth digital bond on SDX, demonstrating blockchain tool adoption beyond retail payments. These initiatives encouraged startups: over 110 crypto companies relocated to the region, strengthening the ecosystem and demand for services. Simultaneously, the international trend of QR payments in retail grows, confirmed by experiences in other markets launching crypto QR payments: crypto QR payments.
Risks and Criticism
Despite technical solutions, critics highlight risks of custodial storage and lack of government guarantees for crypto assets. In Switzerland, traditional bank deposits are protected by different guarantees than funds in digital wallets, causing concern among parts of the academic community. Additionally, psychological acceptance of cryptocurrencies as a payment method remains a challenge: many residents still primarily view Bitcoin as an investment.
Why This Matters
For miners in Russia, the news about Lugano is mainly a case study: it shows how everyday BTC use can be organized with minimal volatility exposure through instant fiat conversion. This approach reduces operational risks for organizations accepting cryptocurrency and demonstrates practical mechanisms to consider when managing revenue. However, Lugano's integration itself does not change local mining regulations or conditions in Russia but provides experience with payment tools and loyalty programs.
What to Do?
- If you receive payments in BTC, consider methods for rapid fiat conversion to reduce price risks—the instant conversion model via an intermediary shows how this can work.
- Explore the Lightning Network as a tool for low fees on spending or receiving payments: fees are usually under 1%, beneficial for small transactions.
- If planning to sell goods or services, evaluate offers for POS equipment and QR payment integration to lower technical barriers for buyers.
- Account for custodial risks: store keys and access securely to minimize loss chances from provider failures.
- Monitor loyalty ecosystems (like LVGA)—such tokens can provide additional incentives for local market turnover.