Switzerland has long been a haven for the wealthy thanks to well-established bank secrecy laws, but its citizens have quickly warmed to the self-sovereign ideals behind Bitcoin (BTC).
Giw Zanganeh, head of Lugano’s Plan ₿ initiative, highlighted the growing use of Bitcoin for daily payments in the Swiss city in a conversation with Cointelegraph journalist Joe Hall at the Plan ₿ Bitcoin Summer School.
Lugano has emerged as an adoption hub for Bitcoin, Tether and its own style LVGA stablecoin that can be used to pay for various utility bills, goods and services throughout the city.
Zanganeh, who heads Tether’s Plan ₿, believes that Switzerland has shown remarkable adoption of cryptocurrencies despite its well-known financial and banking infrastructure:
“What I see is a society, which makes me very strong, many people are interested in Bitcoin, from a philosophical point of view as well. It fits very well with the values of Switzerland.”
Zanganeh added that the Swiss are generally “strong on individual sovereignty and financial privacy”, creating overlaps between the values of Swiss culture and the Bitcoin movement:
“Considering the amount of Bitcoin-only companies in Switzerland, it probably has one of the highest per capita density of Bitcoin-only companies worldwide.”
According to Zanganeh, many politicians, diplomats and members of parliament and the Swiss financial commission have become Bitcoiners which reaffirms a strong outlook for the adoption of BTC in the country.
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A contributor to the increase in the use of Bitcoin is a concerted effort to inform and educate the Swiss people about the merits of BTC:
“We have regular articles in the newspapers where we touch on different aspects of Bitcoin and financial freedom. We try to reach people who are interested in financial freedom and freedom of speech. Maybe they don’t know how the role of Bitcoin is there.”
While the adoption of Bitcoin in Plan ₿ is a “gradual process”, Zanganeh said that the onboarding of merchants throughout Lugano is essential to the opening of a new payment paradigm in the region.
Likening the Bitcoin adoption process to the initial proliferation of bank cards 50 years ago, Zanganeh said practical experience with new transaction methods will continue to bring more users to the Bitcoin ecosystem. :
“If you look at merchants over time, when more people go and pay with Bitcoin, you learn.”
As Cointelegraph previously analyzed, Bitcoin Suisse CEO Dr. Dirk Klee highlighted the potential of the country as a central point for the adoption of cryptocurrency institutions.
The Canton of Zug is another Swiss region that continues to attract cryptocurrency and blockchain firms due to its progressive, government-backed, crypto-friendly initiatives.
The interview is part of Cointelegraph’s upcoming documentary about what it’s like to attend a Bitcoin School. Subscribe here (https://www.youtube.com/@cointelegraph) to watch.
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