El Salvador and Switzerland share a common love of burgers and bitcoin
El Salvador has partnered with the Swiss city of Lugano to promote bitcoin adoption. It’s an unlikely partnership and an unclear reason for teaming up, but for both parties this is a serious and worthwhile endeavor.
This content was published on November 3, 2022 – 17:00
swissinfo.ch
The glue that binds the Central American country to Lugano is Tether, a company that creates stablecoins – digital currencies backed by traditional financial assets, designed to cushion wild swings in value.
Tether and El Salvador formed an alliance in 2021 to reconstruct the country’s payment system. In March of this year, Tether and Lugano founded the “Plan B” project to encourage stores and consumers to use cryptocurrencies.
McDonald’s is one of 60 merchants in Lugano that accept bitcoin, and the city wants to raise this number to 1,000 in the next six months.
Crypto Nation magnet
It is difficult to say right now whether the partnership with El Salvador is largely symbolic or whether an exchange of support and ideas can bring something of significance.
But it seems clear that Switzerland’s growing reputation as the ‘Crypto Nation’, rolling out the red carpet for crypto and blockchain technology, had some bearing on El Salvador’s interest.
“We share a love of innovation and bold ideas,” said El Salvador’s ambassador to the United States, Milena Mayorga.
Switzerland would love for others to express the same admiration and choose the Alpine state as their headquartersExternal link for their blockchain projects.
But there is increasing competition to attract the cream of blockchain technology.
The competition
Dubai is moving at lightning speed to become the world’s number one blockchain hub. Singapore has adopted a similar strategy to Switzerland. Germany and France are working hard in Europe and Britain also has ambitions in this area.
The US, particularly Silicon Valley, New York and Miami, is determined to make the most of its position as the world’s leading economic power.
Who will win the race or at least establish themselves as a serious player alongside other blockchain hubs?
This is the subject of a recorded ‘Let’s Talk’ studio debate organized by SWI swissinfo.ch with contributions from Switzerland, Dubai and the USA.
I was also part of a panel that delved into the potential opportunities and pitfalls of attracting this revolutionary business.
The debate explores the conditions necessary to become a global blockchain hub and asks what the future holds. Give it a watch.
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