Switzerland has long been a haven for the wealthy due to its well-established bank secrecy laws, but its citizens have quickly embraced the ideal of self-sovereignty behind Bitcoin (BTC).
In an interview with Cointelegraph reporter Joe Hall at the Plan ₿ Bitcoin Summer School in Lugano, Switzerland, Giw Zanganeh, head of the Plan ₿ program in Lugano, Giw Zanganeh emphasized that more and more people in the Swiss city are using Bitcoin for everyday payments.
Lugano has become an adoption hub for Bitcoin, Tether (USDT) and its self-appointed LVGA stablecoin, which can be used to pay for various utility bills, goods and services across the city.
According to Zanganeh, despite having a well-known traditional financial and banking infrastructure, Switzerland is doing well for cryptocurrency adoption:
“I see a society, which makes me optimistic; a lot of people are also philosophically interested in bitcoin. It fits very well with Swiss values.”
Zanganeh added that the Swiss are generally “strong on personal sovereignty and financial privacy,” creating an overlap between the values of Swiss culture and those of the Bitcoin movement:
“Given the number of pure bitcoin companies in Switzerland, it probably has one of the highest densities of pure bitcoin companies per capita in the world.”
According to Zanganeh, more and more politicians, diplomats, members of parliament, as well as the Swiss Financial Council are becoming bitcoin supporters, reaffirming the positive outlook for bitcoin adoption in the country.
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An important factor in the increase in Bitcoin usage is educating and educating the Swiss population about the benefits of Bitcoin:
“We have regular articles in the newspaper discussing different aspects of Bitcoin and financial freedom. We try to reach people who are interested in financial freedom and freedom of speech. Maybe they don’t know how Bitcoin works there.”
While Bitcoin adoption is planned to be a “gradual process,” Zanganeh said merchant onboarding across Lugano will be crucial to pioneering new payment models in the region.
Zanganeh likened the Bitcoin adoption process to the initial proliferation of bank cards some 50 years ago, saying that hands-on experience with novel transaction methods will continue to attract more users to the Bitcoin ecosystem:
“If you watch merchants over time, if more and more people pay with bitcoin, you learn something.”
As previously reported by Cointelegraph, Bitcoin Suisse CEO Dirk Klee highlighted the country’s potential as a hub for institutional cryptocurrency adoption.
Zug is another Swiss region that continues to attract cryptocurrency and blockchain companies due to its progressive, government-backed, crypto-friendly initiatives.
This interview is part of an upcoming Cointelegraph documentary about what it’s like to attend Bitcoin school. Subscribe here (https://www.youtube.com/@cointelegraph) to watch.
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