Lugano is the largest city in Italian-speaking southern Switzerland, with a population of more than 60, and more than double that number in wider Lugano area. The city administration is involved in numerous initiatives promoting cryptocurrency as part of a broader strategy to champion the use of and investment in blockchain β the foundational technology on which almost all cryptocurrencies are based. With this new initiative, which has been more than 18 months in the making, the authority has extended the possibility for citizens and companies to use cryptocurrency to pay all its invoices, regardless of the service or amount invoiced.
The crypto payment option will co-exist alongside existing payment methods such as online bank transfers using Swiss francs CHF and using post office counters. The municipality is directing people or businesses who want to make payments using cryptocurrency to www. People can request a receipt by email. A company headquartered in the Swiss city of Zug, Bitcoin Suisse, is working with Lugano as its technical partner.
The city of Zug itself as well as the Zug canton administrative region and the municipality of the famous Swiss mountain town of Zermatt already accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment. Zug was the first Swiss locality to accept Bitcoin payments.
A point-of-sale solution provided by Bitcoin Suisse was even installed in the town hall , so that fees for local authority services could be paid in Bitcoin. The country El Salvador implemented a law more than two years ago that means businesses must accept Bitcoin as payment.
It is a full adoption [of crypto payments] with full automation of all processes. State authorities worldwide are typically more associated with working out how to regulate crypto rather than encouraging citizens to actually use it. Switzerland is not part of the member bloc.
