As one of the Cointelegraph representatives who attended the Paris Blockchain Week Summit (PBWS) At the historic Palais Brongniart – a neoclassical building that previously served as the headquarters of the Paris stock exchange from 1826 to 1987 – European news reporter, Joseph Hall, sat down for an in-depth interview with Bitfinex and Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino.
Previously ranked 88th on Cointelegraph’s prestigious Top 100 of 2021 for its influential impact on the growth of the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem, Ardoino spoke on a number of topics including the adoption of Bitcoin and Tether as legal tender in the Swiss city of Lugano, concerns about the scalability of popular blockchain networks, as well as the potential for new countries to accept Bitcoin in the future.
In early March, The Swiss city of Lugano – which is also a major financial center in Switzerland – has formed a collaborative partnership with stablecoin operator Tether to launch a 3 million Swiss franc initiative designed to encourage the adoption of Blockchain technologies and the use of assets. digital.
using Bitcoin (BTC), Tether (USDT) and the native citizen loyalty token LVGA Points, assets can be used by locals in activities such as taxation and the purchase of public goods and services.
In addition, the project has also committed to creating educational scholarship programs within the three universities in Lugano, a blockchain summer camp, and a maximum 100 million Swiss francs ($107.2 million) jackpot to foster the growth of blockchain start-ups:
“In just a month since the announcement, working with the city we have created a task force that includes tax, legal and relocation advisors. […] and we have been able to start incorporating 25-30 different companies and startups” […] that “between the assets of the company and private equity” are valued “between 300 and 400 million Swiss francs”.
Ardoino pointed out that these companies have moved their operations both from Switzerland and from countries such as India and Singapore. He stated that his intention is “use these few startups as a template” to pave the way for others in the future.
Referring to the image he tweeted of a Lugano newspaper article with the headline “Citta affamata di bitcoin”, which translates as “Bitcoin Hungry City”, Ardoino said that “stablecoins are the perfect trojan horse for Bitcoin”, in the sense that they can serve as an initial mechanism for adoption before the exploration of more complex and more regulated cryptocurrencies.
– Paolo Ardoino (@paoloardoino) March 4, 2022
When asked about the possibilities of new European countries adopting Bitcoin, Ardoino said that “we are looking at other different jurisdictions”, and that some people inside “Parliament are interested in talking to us as they would like to educate themselves to create a case for internal adoption.”
Although in saying this, he wanted to underline the importance that the vision of large-scale Bitcoin adoption across Europe is not achieved overnight, but through a bottom-up approach, prioritizing the community, as the one witnessed in Lugano.
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