Canton of Ticino accepts payments in Bitcoin

The Ticino cantonal parliament has decided to allow payments with Bitcoin in future. According to the official press release, it accepted the motion: “Sending a signal of trust to FinTech companies in Ticino by accepting bitcoin payments for services from the cantonal administration, starting with a pilot application in the department of the institutions”. Tax payments are excluded from this. 

“This is a signal to the economic and financial center,” advocated Paolo Pamini (SVP), who proposed the motion, at the start of the parliamentary debate. “This shows that the canton has no aversion to these technologies that will revolutionize the financial world in the years to come.” According to Ticino Online, the representative of the majority groups (Lega, UDC, FDP and the majority of the PPD), Natalia Ferrara, argued that cryptocurrencies must not be dealt with in the same way that home offices were: “That was something we had been discussing for a long time too, but we were not prepared for it.”

In contrast, the representative of the minority in parliament (PS, Greens, PC, più Donne and a small group from the PPD) stressed the virtual currency’s disadvantages and pointed out the excessive energy consumption, tax evasion, the prospect of a deflationary currency in the hands of a few, illegal activities, and the risk of money laundering.

After a debate lasting almost two and a half hours, the pilot project was passed with 48 yes votes and 36 no votes. Three delegates abstained from the vote.