The city of Lugano is expanding its payment options for all city invoices with the cryptocurrencies Bitcoin (BTC) and Tether (USDT). This consolidates Bitcoin's status as a legal tender in the city in Ticino.
With the new payment options, the city of Lugano aims to drive forward innovative developments in the payment of city bills. All residents and businesses can now use Bitcoin (BTC) and the leading dollar stablecoin Tether (USDT) to pay invoices. Lugano is thus following in the footsteps of the canton of Zug, which has allowed the payment of tax debts with Bitcoin since 2021.
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Bitcoin for all city payments in Lugano
The move is part of the broader "Plan B" that Lugano launched a year and a half ago in collaboration with the stablecoin issuer Tether. Until today, Bitcoin payments in Lugano were reserved for transactions carried out via the city's online portal. Now the municipality is extending the scope of application to all its invoices, regardless of the type of service or invoice amount. This includes taxes of natural and legal persons, fines and all invoiced services.
Furthermore, invoices that have already been issued and those that are still outstanding are also covered. Bills issued by the City of Lugano can be paid in Bitcoin and Tether, regardless of the date of issue. Using an automated solution, the City of Lugano converts all crypto payments into Swiss francs. This is intended to guarantee efficiency and convenience both in payments and in the management of financial and accounting flows by the city administration.
Easy integration into existing processes
The city of Lugano has simplified the processing of payments with Bitcoin & Co. as much as possible. The process is based on the same QR code that is included on paper bills and that residents are already familiar with from traditional bank payments. Anyone wishing to pay a bill with Bitcoin should go to the City of Lugano's crypto homepage. From there, the payer can scan the bill via webcam or camera and pay it immediately.
In the background, payments are processed via the Swiss crypto broker Bitcoin Suisse. The service is available to both citizens and companies. The city of Lugano sees the Bitcoin integration as a complementary service to conventional payment processing via post office counters and e-banking platforms.
