The Italian-speaking Swiss city of Lugano recently made an update to its MyLugano payment app, integrating Polygon (MATIC) PoS. The application now features a specialized section that allows its 30,000 users to access a multichain cryptocurrency wallet.
The section is geared toward more experienced users and will give them access to ‘a wallet similar to MetaMask‘. The first cryptocurrency to be integrated is ckBTC – Crypto Key Bitcoin Tokens – which are described by MyLugano’s official website as ‘an innovative form of digital asset based on the Internet Computer Protocol (ICP) technology’
MyLugano also offers its users access to a wide variety of dApps and enables them to benefit from a loyalty circuit using LVGA – Lugano’s own stablecoin. As part of its crypto-focused initiative, Lugano has also launched a new non-fungible token (NFT) collection.
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The collection is based on a physical artwork created by Yuri Catania that is set to dissipate over time and turn 2,000 paper flowers into real ones while living on through the MyLugano NFT collection.
Europe’s emerging crypto hubs
The Alpine nations of Europe, and Switzerland in particular, have been positioning themselves as cryptocurrency hotspots of the continent. While Lugano is particularly notable for its adoption of blockchain technology, the Zug canton also made headlines when it enabled its citizens and residents to pay taxes and other public fees using Bitcoin (BTC).
Liechtenstein, a duchy nestled between Switzerland and Austria, is also a crypto pioneer, as it introduced legislation specifically focused on cryptocurrencies already in 2019. More recently, the country announced its plans to facilitate payments made using Bitcoin.
While much of the high-level crypto adoption in Europe has been centered on the Alps – which is hardly surprising considering Switzerland’s long-standing position as a financial hub – the rest of the continent has been showing increased interest in recent months.
Along with the European Central Bank’s (ECB) development of a digital euro, many German banks have been seeking crypto custody licenses throughout 2023, and Dz Bank and Commerzbank – Germany’s third and fourth largest – have already received said licenses.
