The DFINITY Foundation, a not-for-profit research and development organization and a major contributor to the Internet Computer blockchain announced a partnership with the Municipality of Lugano, Switzerland.
The Foundation also launched “a $1 million grant fund to support Lugano-based startups in their endeavors to enhance, promote and build on the Internet Computer.”
The grants will be issued “to developers in Lugano who leverage the unique capabilities of the Internet Computer and develop open internet services that can serve the global community and in particular integrate ckBTC into their projects.”
This collaboration is part of the city of Lugano’s overall blockchain development plans, “which include the MyLugano crypto-payment app, extensive local adoption of cryptocurrency, and a multitude of blockchain companies setting up in the city.”
The city of Lugano supports payments “in LVGA, Bitcoin and Tether — which have been declared ‘de facto’ legal tender by the city.”
The de facto legal tender results in citizens “being able to pay in LVGA, Bitcoin and Tether for their purchases at over 400 local businesses and access cash back rewards, as well as, progressively, pay fees and also taxes to the city administration.”
As part of the collaboration, the MyLugano app “developed by NOKU has undergone a major update. With the update, which introduces a multi-chain, multi-wallet solution, more experienced users will be able to manage the assets of other blockchains within the app.”
It will be possible “to manage Internet Computer’s blockchain infrastructure and ckBTC. ckBTC on the Internet Computer is a multi-chain Bitcoin ‘twin’ that is cryptographically secured 1:1 with real Bitcoin.”
It is created by “a pair of open-source, verifiable smart contracts, which allows for cross-chain transactions to stay completely decentralized. ckBTC benefits from the Internet Computer’s speed, security and scalability. ckBTC can be transferred with near-instant finality (1–2s) and for a fraction of the cost of a Bitcoin transfer on the Bitcoin network.”
The Internet Computer acts similarly “to a Layer 2 for Bitcoin so that smart contracts on the Internet Computer can hold, send and receive Bitcoin natively.”
Dominic Williams, Founder and Chief Scientist of the DFINITY Foundation, commented:
“This partnership is an excellent example of our new technology combined with Lugano’s forward thinking in regard to blockchain technology to accelerate the mass adoption of Web3.”