Bitcoin forum celebrating financial freedom, Bitcoin adoption and education to be held October 20-21, 2023

December 22, 2022 — Tether Operations Limited (Tether), the company operating the blockchain-enabled platform tether.to that powers the first and most widely used stablecoin, and the Swiss city of Lugano announced today that the second annual Plan ₿ forum has been scheduled and will be held on Friday, October 20 through Saturday, October 21, 2023. The announcement comes just weeks after the conclusion of the massively successful, first-ever Plan ₿ forum, which attracted nearly 2,000 attendees. The first wave of tickets are on sale now at https://planb.lugano.ch/planb-forum at a special discounted rate that runs until January 31, 2023 or until they sell out.

In addition to listening to an elite line-up of speakers and panels touting the importance of financial democratization and Bitcoin adoption, attendees of the Plan ₿ forum held October 28-29, 2022 were present for several exciting news announcements. This included the announcement made by Salvadoran Ambassador Milena Mayorga and Lugano Mayor Michele Foletti that El Salvador and the city of Lugano entered into a partnership on economic cooperation, and the news that Tether, Holepunch, and Synonym launched Pear Credit, one of the cornerstone products in a series of peer-to-peer applications by the three companies.

“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,” said Michele Foletti, Mayor of Lugano. “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.”

“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,” said Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Tether. “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.”

During the two days of this year’s Plan ₿ forum, 20,000 CHF worth of transactions were processed in Lugano, including over 1000 transactions over Bitcoin Lightning Network, close to 130 USD₮ transactions, and 200 LVGA transactions. Thanks to ongoing efforts in the region, and the Plan ₿ initiative, there are now nearly 100 merchants throughout Lugano accepting Bitcoin and Tether, and 300 merchants accepting LVGA. This marked an important milestone for Lugano and demonstrated the utility of Bitcoin for real life transactions.

Details for the second Plan ₿ forum can be found at https://planb.lugano.ch/planb-forum. Further information including a list of key speakers will be announced in the coming weeks.

About Plan ₿ 

Lugano’s Plan ₿ is a joint initiative between the City of Lugano and Tether to accelerate the use of and leverage bitcoin technology as the foundation to transform the city’s financial infrastructure.

The plan will scale blockchain and Bitcoin throughout the city to positively impact all facets of daily life for the residents of Lugano. From small transactions with local merchants to larger efforts – such as paying annual taxes – blockchain will serve as the foundation for the city’s financial exchanges.