McDonald’s establishments in the Swiss city of Lugano began accepting payments in bitcoins. This was announced on October 4 by the company’s representative in Switzerland, Beatrice Montserrat.
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She clarified that the innovation is due to the initiative of the mayor of the city, who intends to introduce the use of this cryptocurrency everywhere, even for paying taxes.
“The city of Lugano, in cooperation with Tether, has taken the initiative to create its own local cryptocurrency. Two McDonald’s restaurants in Lugano, run by an independent franchise, are participating in this initiative,” she told RIA Novosti.
Montserrat added that this is a local initiative of Lugano, McDonald’s in other Swiss cities does not plan to accept cryptocurrency.
At the end of September, lawyer Ksenia Khlopotova told Izvestia that, despite the coordination of the position of the Bank of Russia and the Ministry of Finance on cryptocurrency settlements in foreign economic activity (FEA), in the near future cryptocurrency will not be legalized as a means of payment in Russia, especially for individuals.
On the same day, the Bank of Russia reported that they had agreed with the Ministry of Finance on a bill allowing cross-border settlements in cryptocurrency.
On September 16, the head of the regulator, Elvira Nabiullina, said that there is no free circulation of cryptocurrencies in Russia, but they can be used for international settlements.