Key takeaways
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Adoption is voluntary. Merchants participate because Bitcoin Lightning fees are typically less than 1%, compared to the average of around 3% charged by credit card networks.
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Residents can pay municipal bills, including taxes, parking fines and school fees, in BTC or USDT using standard QR code bills.
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The city balances the ecosystem using BTC for payments, USDT for stability, and LVGA as a token of local loyalty.
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The city does not hold volatile crypto assets. Payments are instantly converted to Swiss francs (CHF) via Bitcoin Suisse, limiting the city’s exposure to cryptocurrency price volatility.
The cobblestone streets of Lugano, Switzerland, are better known for their Mediterranean-style squares and upscale boutiques than for radical economic changes. But take a closer look at the storefronts along Via Nassa, and the familiar “Visa” and “Mastercard” stickers have a new neighbor: a bright yellow “Plan ₿” sticker.
In this lakeside enclave, Bitcoin is no longer just a digital asset hidden in a cold wallet. It’s a functional currency used to buy everything from a morning espresso to a Big Mac, and even to pay council tax bills.
The vision behind a decentralized plan ₿
Launched in 2022 as part of a partnership between the City of Lugano and Tether, Plan ₿ was not designed as a marketing stunt. It was designed as a structural overhaul of the city’s financial circuits.
While countries like El Salvador have pursued top-down Bitcoin mandates, Lugano’s approach is typically Swiss: voluntary, highly organized, and focused on reducing friction between merchants.
The ecosystem is built on three pillars: Bitcoin (BTC) for sovereign value, Tether’s USDt (USDT) for price stability in broader commerce, and the LVGA token, a local stablecoin that powers a citywide loyalty program.
Merchant experience and organic growth
For local traders, the transition to crypto is driven less by ideology and more by financial results. Traditional credit card processors in Switzerland can charge merchants up to 3% per transaction. In contrast, Bitcoin payments made through Lightning Network, a Layer 2 protocol that allows for instant, low-cost transactions, often cost less than 1%.
A local store owner describes this change as an organic process. It’s “like a tree growing,” he told the BBC. “This tree will be very big in five or ten years.” While crypto payments currently only make up a small portion of its daily sales, the infrastructure is already in place, awaiting the “mass” of mass adoption.
To bridge the gap, the city distributed free smart point-of-sale terminals, powered by GoCrypto, to more than 350 merchants. These devices handle the heavy lifting of the technical work. The merchant enters the price in Swiss francs (CHF), the customer scans a QR code, and the merchant can choose to receive settlement instantly in CHF to avoid volatility or hold crypto.
The circular economy
The operational backbone of Lugano is the MyLugano app. This is where the “how to” of daily life in the city becomes tangible.
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When users pay with cryptocurrencies at participating local stores, they receive up to 10% cash back in LVGA tokens.
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These tokens are not just digital points. They are pegged to the Swiss franc and accepted for municipal services, public parking and even childcare costs.
This creates a self-contained loop. A tourist can pay for a luxury watch in USDT, earn LVGA cashback, and then use this “digital currency” to pay for a boat ride on Lake Lugano. By keeping value within these digital rails, the city reduces its reliance on some traditional bank fee structures, thereby retaining more transactional value within the local ecosystem.
Governance on blockchain through taxes and fines
Perhaps the most radical “how to” in Lugano is how residents interact with the state. Lugano is one of the few places in the world where all municipal bills, from property taxes to parking tickets, can be paid in Bitcoin or Tether.
The process is remarkably mundane, and that’s exactly the point. An invoice arrives with a standard Swiss QR code. The resident scans it with a wallet, confirms the exchange rate, which is locked for a short period to prevent slippage, and the debt is settled. The city administration describes this as “complete automation” of financial flows, thereby reducing the administrative burden on the local treasury.
Institutional infrastructure and 2025 milestone
The momentum behind Plan ₿ reached a new peak in October 2025 at the fourth annual Plan ₿ Forum. The event attracted a record 4,000 participants from 64 countries, representing a 140% increase in attendance since the project launched. This growth is not just about tourism; this reflects a growing level of institutional interest.
In 2025, Lugano further consolidated its position by issuing its fifth digital bond on SDX, the SIX Digital Exchange, demonstrating that blockchain infrastructure extends beyond retail payments to sophisticated municipal debt markets.
The city has also become a magnet for brainiacs, attracting more than 110 crypto-related startups who have set up shop in the region, attracted by the regulatory clarity provided by the Swiss FINMA framework.
The skeptical manager’s view of risk
However, any professional analysis must take friction into account. In Lugano, not everyone is a believer. Local critics, including university students and some academics, remain cautious. The main concern is not the technology itself, but the preservation risk.
In Switzerland, traditional bank deposits are protected by public guarantees. Crypto assets held in digital wallets, however, do not benefit from the same protections. “If the platform on which my digital wallet is registered breaks down or goes bankrupt, my cryptocurrencies will disappear,” warns Sergio Rossi, professor of economics at the University of Fribourg.
Finally, even if the technical infrastructure is fully in place, “psychological adoption” remains a generational challenge. Many residents still view Bitcoin primarily as an investment rather than a medium of exchange.
Plan for the future
Lugano’s experience suggests that large-scale Bitcoin integration depends less on ideology and more on practical user interfaces. By focusing on three specific workstreams, the city has created a replicable model for municipalities around the world:
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Provide free materials to merchants to remove “entry fees” for adoption
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Ensure that the currency can be used for everyday obligations such as taxes, and not just for discretionary purchases such as luxury goods.
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Use a local loyalty token to keep value circulating in the city.
As the world watches central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) with a mixture of curiosity and concern, Lugano offers a contrasting model: a city experimenting with private, decentralized and stable digital assets, positioned as an alternative to state-issued digital currencies.
