Nearly 500 shops in Lugano accept digital-token payments, the Financial Times reported on November 13, 2026. A checkout option isn’t necessarily a checkout habit, though: none of the five crypto-accepting stores the newspaper visited said use was widespread. Source
The Swiss city is pursuing Plan B, its non-profit joint venture with Tether to develop crypto payments, education and businesses. The initiative was extended for four years in March 2026, with Tether committing SFr5 million, about $6 million, according to the FT. Source
Alberto, who runs Cigar Must in Lugano’s central square, showed the FT figures indicating that crypto accounted for 0.02% of the shop’s 2026 sales up to that point. “People are not really using this . . . it’s just marketing,” he told the newspaper. Source
The report doesn’t specify whether that percentage measures sales value or transaction count, or which tokens it includes. And five shops don’t make a citywide survey. Source
Lugano’s payment options
The payment options reported across Lugano’s shops include bitcoin, Tether’s USDT stablecoin and the city’s own LVGA token. Digital tokens can also pay taxes, parking fines, childcare and other municipal charges, according to the FT. Source
The FT reported that nearly 47,000 people out of Lugano’s population of almost 70,000 had downloaded the LVGA wallet, encouraged by an offer of up to 10% in bonus tokens on purchases. A download counter is not a cash register, and LVGA wallet uptake doesn’t establish bitcoin or USDT adoption. Source
The mayor’s jobs pitch
Mayor Michele Foletti told the FT that embracing crypto had “given new hope to the city” and presented new technology as a way to create employment opportunities. Source
Foletti also said 150 digital-asset companies had sprung up in Lugano, although the report noted that most were start-ups too small to contribute meaningfully to its economy at that point. Source
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