Multinational fast food chain McDonald’s has begun accepting Bitcoin (BTC) as a payment method in Lugano, a city of 63,000 in the Italian-speaking region of Switzerland that has become a hotspot for crypto adoption in Western Europe.
A one-minute video of ordering food at a digital McDonald’s kiosk and then paying for it at the regular register using a mobile app was uploaded to Twitter by Bitcoin Magazine on October 3. The Tether (USDT) logo can then be seen inside the Bitcoin symbol on the ATM, which is not surprising, as the city of Lugano announced in March 2022 that it would accept Bitcoin, Tether and LVGA as fiat currencies.
On March 3, 2022, the city signed a memorandum of understanding with Tether Operations Limited, to launch the so-called “Plan B.” Under this plan, Tether has created two funds – the first with about $106 million, or 100 million Swiss francs, an investment pool for cryptocurrency startups, and the second with about $3 million, or 3 million Swiss francs, in an effort to encourage adoption. . of cryptocurrency to shops and businesses around town.
In addition to allowing residents of Lugano to pay taxes using cryptocurrency, the project will expand payments to include parking tickets, public services and student tuition fees. More than 200 stores and businesses in the region are also expected to accept cryptocurrency payments for goods and services.
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Speaking to Cointelegraph in June, Paolo Arduino, chief technology officer of Tether and Bitfinex, claimed that Plan B is “going well,” and announced a two-week blockchain and cryptocurrency educational event in the city.
