The multinational fast food chain McDonald’s has started accepting Bitcoin (BTC) as a payment method in the city of Lugano, which has 63,000 inhabitants and is located in the Italian-speaking region of Switzerland, which is becoming an epicenter for the cryptocurrency adoption in Western Europe.
A one-minute video in which asks food on McDonald’s digital board and then paid at the regular cash register with the help of a mobile app was uploaded to Twitter by Bitcoin Magazine on Oct. 3. The Tether (USDT) logo could be seen next to the Bitcoin symbol on the ATM, which is no surprise given that in March this year the city of Lugano announced that it would adopt Bitcoin, Tether and the LVGA token as its currency. legal tender.
On March 3, 2022, the city signed a memorandum of understanding with Tether Operations Limited, launching the so-called “Plan B”. According to this plan, Tether has created two funds: the first is a $106 million, or 100 million Swiss francs, investment fund for cryptocurrency startups, and the second is an approximately $3 million, or about 3 million Swiss francs, effort. , to promote the adoption of cryptocurrencies by businesses and companies throughout the city.
In addition to allowing residents of Lugano to pay their taxes with cryptocurrency, the project will extend payments to parking tickets, utilities, and student tuition fees. It is also expected that more than 200 stores and businesses in the area will accept payment for goods and services via cryptocurrencies.
Speaking to Cointelegraph in June, Paolo ArdoinoCTO of Tether and Bitfinex, stated that Plan B “is going great,” announcing a two-week blockchain and cryptocurrency educational activity in the city.
In September 2021, El Salvador became the first country in the world to allow the use of Bitcoin as legal tender. Since then, McDonald’s accepts Bitcoin in its 19 establishments in the country.
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