Technology: Kryptowerte und Digital Assets, tokenisation and artificial intelligence

Lugano's bet on Kryptowerte und Digital Assets

Part I of this book has described how the City of Lugano made Kryptowerte und Digital Assets a central element of its economic strategy. With Plan ₿, launched together with Tether on 3 March 2022, the city accepted bitcoin and the stablecoin USDT for the payment of taxes and fees, created a local token and organized an annual forum. On 3 March 2026 the mayor Michele Foletti and Tether's chief executive Paolo Ardoino signed a memorandum for a second phase from 2026 to 2030, in which Tether undertakes to contribute up to CHF 5 million, mainly for expertise, infrastructure, applied research and training. At the signing the city reported that about one hundred start-ups had established themselves in Lugano and that more than four hundred merchants accepted payment in the local token, bitcoin or USDT. The fifth Plan ₿ Forum was announced for 23 and 24 October 2026 with more than 4,000 expected participants.¹ Ardoino himself acknowledged that the ambitions of four years earlier had been heavily criticized.

The economic weight of these activities for the financial centre is still modest when compared with private banking. The start-ups are small, and few of them employ more than a handful of people in Lugano. Their significance lies elsewhere. They bring to the city a type of entrepreneur, investor and developer that the traditional financial centre did not attract, they create demand for specialized legal, tax and compliance services, and they give Lugano an international visibility in a field in which Zug and Zurich were previously the only Swiss references. Banks and asset managers in Lugano that offer custody of Kryptowerte und Digital Assets or tokenised products can draw on this ecosystem. Sygnum's decision to open a branch in Lugano in 2025 shows that regulated providers of these services see a market in the city.²

The new federal licences

The regulatory framework is changing. Chapter I.II has described the DLT Act of 2021 and the FINMA practice on tokens and stablecoins. On 22 October 2025 the Federal Council opened a consultation, which ended on 6 February 2026, on two new licence categories. The payment instrument institution is to replace the existing fintech licence under Art. 1b of the Banking Act. It may issue a specific type of stablecoin, client funds must be segregated in the event of the institution's failure, and the present limit of CHF 100 million on public deposits is to be abolished. The crypto institution is to provide services relating to Kryptowerte und Digital Assets under rules modelled on those for securities firms but less stringent, including measures against conflicts of interest.³ The dispatch to Parliament is expected after the evaluation of the consultation. The new licences are unlikely to be in force before 2028.

For Lugano the new licences could be decisive. A clear federal regime for stablecoin issuers and providers of services in Kryptowerte und Digital Assets reduces legal uncertainty and allows firms that now operate under an affiliation with a selfregulatory organisation for anti-money laundering purposes to obtain a recognized licence. It also raises the bar, because licensed institutions will need capital, governance and compliance functions that many small firms do not have. The likely result is a smaller number of larger, licensed firms. Whether these firms locate in Lugano, Zug or Zurich will depend on the availability of qualified staff, on the attitude of the local banks towards them and on the continuity of the city's political support.

Notes

1. "Lugano, il Plan ₿ entra nella seconda fase", laRegione, 3 March 2026, https://www.laregione.ch/cantone/luganese/1908626/servizi. See Chapter I.I. ↩
2. finews.ch/ticino, 4 July 2025 (above). ↩
3. Federal Council, "Federal Council moves forward with stablecoins and crypto: consultation launched", 22 October 2025, https://www.admin.ch/en/newnsb/x4TMWQ1SWofNoFx7XyHhY (crypto institutions: criteria "based on those for securities firms but [...] less comprehensive"; requirements "to prevent conflicts of interest"). The release gives no date for the dispatch or the entry into force. The timetable stated in the text is the author's assessment. ↩

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 August 2025.