Swiss City Lugano Partners with Tether to Adopt Crypto Tax Payments

The City of Lugano in Switzerland has entered into a partnership with Tether Operations Limited to drive its technological advancement while enabling its capabilities to allow its residents to pay their taxes through cryptocurrencies. 

Per the announcement from the duo, the partnership will help to establish a centre of excellence for blockchain adoption in Europe while helping to scale Lugano’s blockchain infrastructure as it looks to become a key hub for the new technology in the European Union.

"Lugano is investing in its future," said Michele Foletti, Mayor of Lugano. "In recent years, the city has already implemented blockchain-based solutions including the MyLugano app and its LVGA Points payment token, the Lugano digital franc, and the 3Achain blockchain infrastructure. We strongly believe in this technology, the potential to scale the technology, – and our integrated collaboration with Tether – will build a better and more open, transparent, and smart city."

The partnership will see Tether support the city at its forthcoming event dubbed the “Bitcoin World Summit” in October this year with the theme bordering on the deep conversations around freedom of communication and finance as aspects that are the targets of revolution for blockchain innovations.

Tether will equally help the City of Lugano to transform the flexibility of its businesses so that they will start accepting stablecoins as a means of payment for their services. As the world’s largest stablecoin issuer, Tether will provide the technological infrastructure to make this and more targeted innovations happen across the board.

According to the announcement, the “Lightning Network will be one of the solutions that the City, with the support of Tether, will integrate into the services. Lightning Network has grown to become a prominent, highly scalable, and robust payment system overcoming scalability obstacles associated with the blockchain without surrendering security, trustlessness, or privacy.”

As noted, the partnerships will also feature the payment of annual taxes in crypto with formal approvals secured for Bitcoin, Tether, and select CHF-based stablecoins. The Lugano-Tether tax deal mimics a similar push by the US State of Colorado which plans to start accepting payments for tax through crypto this summer.