Tether: the second Plan B Forum in Lugano

Today Tether announced the second edition of the Plan B Forum. 

It will be held from Friday 20 October to Saturday 21 October 2023 in Lugano, Switzerland and, like the previous one held this year, it will be a joint initiative between the City of Lugano and Tether. 

The goal is to continue to promote the use of Bitcoin by leveraging its technology as a basis for transforming the city’s financial infrastructure.

Lugano wants to become one of Europe’s blockchain hubs, and together with Tether is trying to spread the use of Bitcoin and USDT as widely as possible in the city. 

Tether Operations Limited operates the blockchain platform tether.to and the world’s first and most widely used stablecoin, USDT. 

The Plan B Forum seeks to spread the use of Bitcoin as widely as possible throughout the city so as to have a positive impact on all aspects of Lugano residents’ daily lives, from small transactions in local stores to larger efforts such as paying taxes. 

The announcement of next year’s forum comes just weeks after the conclusion of the first Plan ₿ Forum in the city, which was a great success with nearly two thousand participants. Tickets for next year’s event have already gone on sale on the official website of the City of Lugano. 

Tether: the 2022 edition of the Plan B Forum

During the first edition of the event, held in Lugano on 28-29 October 2022, participants were able to hear a top selection of speakers and panels stressing the importance of financial democratization and Bitcoin adoption. 

In addition, several announcements were launched during the event, such as the one made by Salvadoran Ambassador Milena Mayorga and Lugano Mayor Michele Foletti regarding the partnership on economic cooperation between El Salvador and the city of Lugano. There was also the announcement of the launch of Pear Credit, a cornerstone product of a series of peer-to-peer applications developed by a partnership between Tether, Holepunch and Synonym. 

A total of 20,000 Swiss francs worth of transactions were processed during the two-day forum, including more than 1,000 in BTC on the Lightning Network, nearly 130 in USDT, and 200 in LVGA, Lugano’s city token. 

Thanks to ongoing efforts in the region, and the initiative of Tether and the City of Lugano, there are now nearly 100 merchants throughout the city accepting BTC and USDT, and 300 accepting LVGA. 

Lugano Mayor Michele Foletti said: 

“It was an honor to welcome so many great speakers and guests from across the world to our city just a few weeks ago, and we are thrilled to host the second Plan ₿ forum in October 2023. People everywhere are becoming more interested in learning about how financial democratization can make their lives better, and I’m thrilled that our innovative city of Lugano can facilitate such important learning and conversations to happen.”

Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino added: 

“The first-ever Plan ₿ forum was a massive success that blew all expectations out of the water, and we are so excited to do it again in 2023. We had so many incredible speakers and attendees who sparked important discussions about the adoption of Bitcoin, and I look forward to building out the program for an even bigger and better Plan ₿ forum next year.”

A list of keynote speakers for the 2023 edition will be posted on the City of Lugano’s official website in the coming weeks.