Forum, foundation, education and symbols

The Plan ₿ Forum

The most visible product of Plan ₿ is its annual conference. The answer of the Municipio to the council inquiry of 2023 already mentioned a forum in October as one of the main activities agreed with Tether. The memorandum of 2026 confirms the parties' commitment to organize the annual Plan ₿ Forum as a platform for international dialogue, outreach and the positioning of Lugano as an ecosystem for digital innovation.¹ The first edition took place in October 2022. By the edition of October 2025 the organizers reported some 4,000 participants from sixty countries.² The fifth edition is scheduled for 23 and 24 October 2026 at the Convention Centre, Villa Ciani and the former Asilo Ciani in the park on the lake shore.³

The programme of the forum shows its character. The organizers describe it as a meeting of leaders to discuss "nation-state Bitcoin adoption, economics, financial freedom, and freedom of speech". The speakers announced for 2026 include Paolo Ardoino of Tether, Elizabeth Stark of Lightning Labs, Adam Back of Blockstream, the economist and author Saifedean Ammous, Roy Sheinfeld of Breez, Samson Mow of JAN3 and the podcaster Stephan Livera.⁴ The forum is conducted in English with simultaneous translation of the main sessions into Italian. Tickets range from CHF 99 for students and CHF 249 for an early standard pass to CHF 2,999 for a premium pass. A combined ticket is offered for the Lugano forum and a sister event in El Salvador. Around the main conference the organizers have built a "Plan B Week" from 19 to 28 October 2026, a separate event on the future of capital markets on 22 October and a charity run. For the opening of Phase II in March 2026 the city distributed 700 free tickets for a football match of FC Lugano.⁵

The forum is thus a conference of the Bitcoin movement held in Lugano, with a strong emphasis on bitcoin as a political and monetary project. The institutions that dominate Lugano's financial centre, the private banks, asset managers and trading houses, are not its main audience. That is a strength for the city's international visibility among a particular community and a limitation for the integration of the programme into the existing financial centre. The question is taken up in the assessment at the end of the chapter.

The Plan ₿ Foundation

The institutional vehicle for the educational and promotional side of the programme is the Plan ₿ Foundation, a Swiss non-profit organization chaired by the mayor, Michele Foletti. Its stated purpose is to support education, awareness and the responsible adoption of digital currencies and blockchain technology. It organizes events, educational programmes, scholarships and professional training in digital finance and decentralized technologies and promotes cooperation between public and private actors.⁶ Its scientific director is Denis Roio, who has represented the foundation in public statements.⁷

A foundation under Swiss law is an independent legal person with assets dedicated to a specific purpose, governed by Art. 80 et seq. of the Civil Code and supervised by the public body (Confederation, canton or municipality) to which it belongs by virtue of its purpose.⁸ The choice of a foundation separates the promotional and educational activities from the municipal administration and its budget and allows private funds, above all those of Tether, to be received and spent without passing through the municipal accounts. The arrangement has a governance cost. When the mayor chairs a foundation that is financed largely by the city's private partner, the line between the municipality and the partner becomes harder to see for the public. The memorandum of 2026 addresses this indirectly, by stating that it does not transfer the ownership, governance, control, exclusivity or branding of the "Lugano Living Lab" to any private partner and that no exclusivity is implied.⁹ For the foundation itself, transparency about its funding, its accounts and the composition of its board is the best answer to the question.

Notes

laRegione, "Spiegato il protocollo d'intesa" (above); Memorandum of Understanding … Phase II (above), section on education and participation. ↩
"Lugano's Plan ₿ ", sponsored content, Tio.ch, 6 March 2026 (above). The year of the first edition follows from the numbering of the fifth edition in 2026 and from the answer of the Municipio of March 2023. ↩
Plan ₿ Forum, https://planb.lugano.ch/planb-forum/; laRegione, "Lugano, il Plan ₿ entra nella seconda fase" (above) (fifth edition, 23–24 October). ↩
Plan ₿ Forum (above). ↩
laRegione, "Lugano, il Plan ₿ entra nella seconda fase" (above). ↩
Plan ₿ Foundation, "Chi siamo", https://planb.lugano.ch/chi-siamo/?lang=it. ↩
"Lugano's Plan ₿ ", sponsored content, Tio.ch, 6 March 2026 (above); "Vandalizzata ancora la statua di Nakamoto", RSI, April 2026, https://www.rsi.ch/info/ticino-grigioni-e-insubria/Vandalizzata-ancora-la-statua-di-Nakamoto--3678644.html. ↩
Swiss Civil Code of 10 December 1907, SR 210, Art. 80 (endowment of assets for a particular purpose), https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/de-fr/2/21/210-80-105.html, and Art. 84 para. 1 (supervision by the Confederation, canton or municipality to which the foundation belongs), https://www.droit-bilingue.ch/de-fr/2/21/210-84-113.html. ↩
Memorandum of Understanding … Phase II (above). ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of October 2026.

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Forum, foundation, education and symbols

The Plan ₿ Forum

The Plan ₿ Foundation

Notes

Setting up or expanding in Switzerland?