TLDR
- Tether and Lugano set up to CHF 5M support for Plan ₿ Phase II from 2026 to 2030.
- Over 400 Lugano merchants accept BTC, USD₮, and LVGA for everyday payments.
- PoW.space has helped attract over 100 fintech and blockchain firms to the region.
- Plan ₿ Forum has drawn 4,000+ attendees from 60+ countries since launch.
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Tether and the City of Lugano have renewed their partnership for Plan ₿ Phase II. The plan runs from 2026 to 2030, and it targets digital infrastructure and resilience.
The updated memorandum sets an indicative contribution of up to CHF 5 million. The support is mainly expertise, infrastructure work, applied research, and training.
Plan ₿ moves from payments pilots to city-scale digital systems
Plan ₿ began in March 2022 as a city program for digital asset use. It focused on practical payment trials and tested adoption in daily commerce.
Lugano now reports more than 400 local merchants accepting BTC, USD₮, and LVGA. The City also enabled some municipal payments in digital assets under pilot steps.
Tether said the work extended into public finance tools as well. Lugano introduced digital bond issuance with technical and strategic support.
PoW.space and the Plan ₿ Forum expand the local ecosystem
The City and Tether also created PoW.space as a physical innovation hub. The space aims to support peer-to-peer projects and blockchain builders locally.
The partners said PoW.space helped attract more than 100 fintech and blockchain firms. They described Lugano as a bridge between traditional finance and decentralized systems.
The Plan ₿ Forum also grew during the first phase of the initiative. Organizers said it now draws more than 4,000 participants from over 60 countries.
The forum agenda centers on digital assets and infrastructure resilience. It also includes sessions on financial sovereignty and governance topics.
Phase II pillars target infrastructure resilience and local autonomy
Phase II is structured around five connected pillars for 2026 to 2030. The partners said the goal is long-term capacity and reduced critical dependencies.
One pillar aims to build institutional tools for secure digital asset management. It also covers automated system management for public and institutional use.
Another pillar targets Lugano as a hub for digital trade and commodity processes. A separate pillar focuses on sovereign and privacy-preserving digital identity systems.
The plan also includes local artificial intelligence ecosystems and autonomous agents. It further proposes distributed and modular urban infrastructure for resilient operations.
Funding terms keep governance with the City of Lugano
The renewed memorandum sets support of up to CHF 5 million across the 2026–2030 period. The City said governance authority remains fully with municipal institutions.
Each initiative will be handled through separate implementation agreements. The City also said earlier work used incremental pilots with regulatory compliance checks.
The City stated it assumed no structural public finance risk during Phase I. It also said public oversight stayed in place while projects were evaluated.
Paolo Ardoino, Tether CEO, said, “Phase II focuses on infrastructure, resilience, and local capacity building.” Michele Foletti, Mayor of Lugano, said, “We are investing in open and resilient civic digital infrastructure.”
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