Switzerland

I've spent a few days in Lugano, Switzerland🇨🇭

The city has embraced crypto payments for nearly everything, from paying local taxes to buying a home or simply paying the restaurant bill 🍽️

Here is what I've learnt 🧵

1. Crypto is accepted virtually everywhere in the city center

Many of the shops, restaurants, cafés and venues open to the public accept cryptocurrencies. Payments can be done easily via scanning a QR code with your phone.

2. The local stablecoin $LVGA was rather popular for a while after launch in 2022, but it doesn't seem to be used much lately for daily transactions by locals

$LVGA is a stablecoin pegged to the Swiss Franc (1 CHF = 100 LVGA), fully backed by the city's monetary reserves.

3. Bitcoin is still preferred for high-value transactions, while $USDT is the stablecoin of choice for visitors mostly due to its widespread availability, liquidity and given the close collaboration between @tether and Lugano Plan B

4. Twint - a local payment app that runs entirely on traditional financial rails - is still perceived as faster, easier and more convenient than crypto by locals for daily payments.

It's used it to pay for parking, withdraw cash or purchase groceries.

4. Twint - a local payment app that runs entirely on traditional financial rails - is still perceived as faster, easier and more convenient than crypto by locals for daily payments.

It's used it to pay for parking, withdraw cash or purchase groceries.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrIS0F_jVhI

While crypto payments provide clear utility for international transfers and a wide range of other use cases, it seems that the overall user and merchant experience still needs to improve substantially in order to be widely adopted for day-to-day payments.

For now it seems the convenience and familiarity with traditional FinTech solutions still wins over the complexity & uncertainty that surrounds crypto for the general public.

The many currencies, networks and wallets introduce additional friction for both parties of a transaction.

It's exciting to see the city of Lugano pioneer a local crypto payment network and currency with $LVGA, especially by onboarding over 360 merchants.

One highlight worth mentioning is the $LVGA cashback program, where merchants issue a 10% cashback in $LVGA on purchases.

Over time, we'll most likely see more of these experiments, with compelling value propositions able to exceed what current FinTech solutions can provide.

Payments already happen via QR codes in both cases, so it's mostly a matter of onboarding, familiarity and assets liquidity.

Ps: Lugano is a beautiful city, with high quality of life, great food, incredibly clean and safe with a broad range of outdoor activity options. Not to mention the scenic views of the mountains and lakes nearby. Definitely worth a visit!

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https://warpcast.com/mdali.eth/0x1bf0dca7

3. Bitcoin is still preferred for high-value transactions, while $USDT is the stablecoin of choice for visitors mostly due to its widespread availability, liquidity and given the close collaboration between @tether and Lugano Plan B

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b13s2DJWQbw