Bitcoin aligns with Swiss values - Head of Lugano’s Plan ₿

cointelegraph.com:

Switzerland has long been a haven for the wealthy due to its well-established banking secrecy laws, but its citizens have warmed quickly to the self-sovereign ideals behind Bitcoin (BTC).

Giw Zanganeh, head of Lugano’s Plan ₿ initiative, highlighted the growing use of Bitcoin for everyday payments in the Swiss city in conversation with Cointelegraph journalist Joe Hall at the Plan ₿ Bitcoin Summer School.

Lugano has emerged as an adoption hub for Bitcoin, Tether and its self-styled LVGA stablecoin which can be used to pay for a variety of utility bills, goods and services across the city.

Zanganeh, who head’s up Tether’s Plan ₿, believes that Switzerland has shown remarkable adoption of cryptocurrencies despite its renowned financial and banking infrastructure:

Zanganeh added that the Swiss are typically “strong on individual sovereignty and financial privacy”, which creates overlaps between the values of Swiss culture and those of the Bitcoin movement:

According to Zanganeh, more politicians, diplomats and members of parliament and Switzerland’s financial commission are becoming Bitcoiners which reaffirms a bullish outlook for BTC adoption in the country.

Related: McDonald’s, pizza and coffee paid in Bitcoin: The Plan B for crypto payments

A contributor to increased Bitcoin usage has been a concerted effort to inform and educate the Swiss populace about the merits of BTC:

While the uptake of Plan ₿’s Bitcoin adoption is a “gradual process”, Zanganeh said that the onboarding of merchants across Lugano has been crucial in opening up a new payments paradigm in the region.

Likening the process of Bitcoin adoption to the initial proliferation of bank cards some 50 years ago, Zanganeh said that practical experience with novel