22 August, 2025 – Tether, the largest company in the digital asset industry, and the City of Lugano today unveiled the line-up of renowned thought leaders who will gather in Lugano for the fourth annual Plan ₿ Forum on October 24–25, 2025. Building on the success of 2024’s record-breaking event, which drew around 2,900 participants from over 60 countries, the 2025 forum is set to be the most ambitious yet, bringing together innovators, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and educators from across the globe.
The fourth annual forum comes at a time when cryptocurrency is making unprecedented strides in the United States, with legislative clarity emerging and mainstream companies integrating blockchain into their core operations. The inclusion of Jack Mallers, whose leadership at Twenty One Capital and Strike is advancing Bitcoin’s global reach; Chris Pavlovski, whose vision at Rumble highlights blockchain’s power to transform media; Bo Hines, who recently joined Tether as Strategic Advisor for Digital Assets and U.S. Strategy after his history-making tenure as Executive Director of the White House Crypto Council under President Donald Trump; and the Assange family, whose advocacy embodies the fight for transparency and free expression, reflects just how far the movement for financial and informational freedom has come.
Driven largely by the pioneering work of the Plan ₿ initiative in Lugano, which demonstrated how a city could fully integrate Bitcoin and USD₮ into daily life, mainstream adoption is now accelerating at a pace few could have imagined when the forum first launched. The 2025 event stands as a testament to that progress, bringing global innovators together to explore what comes next.
“We are thrilled to welcome the world back to Lugano for the fourth annual Lugano’s Plan ₿ Forum,” said Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether. “Last year’s record attendance and the surge in real-world cryptocurrency usage in our city showed what’s possible when vision and action align. This year, we aim to push those boundaries even further, inspiring conversations and innovations that will shape the future of finance, technology, and freedom.”
“Hosting the Plan ₿ Forum has brought global attention to Lugano and reinforced our commitment to becoming Europe’s blockchain hub,” said Michele Foletti, Mayor of Lugano. “The 2024 event was our most successful yet, and we look forward to building on that momentum in 2025, showcasing Lugano as a place where ideas, technology, and community converge.”
Over two days, attendees will take part in panels, workshops, and networking events covering Bitcoin adoption, decentralized infrastructure, privacy, peer-to-peer technologies, and blockchain’s role in driving global economic empowerment.
This year’s line-up features more than 100 speakers, including: Milena Mayorga (El Salvador’s Ambassador to the United States), Michele Foletti (Mayor of Lugano), Elizabeth Stark (CEO & Co-Founder, Lightning Labs), Adam Back (CEO, Blockstream), Stella Assange (Human Rights Defender), Samson Mow (CEO, JAN3), Jameson Lopp (CTO, CASA), Prince Filip Karađorđević (Hereditary Prince of Yugoslavia & CSO, JAN3), Samuel Kullmann (Member of Parliament, Canton Berne, Switzerland), NVK (CEO, Coinkite), Mathias Buus (CEO, Holepunch), Saifedean Ammous (Economist & Author), Chris Pavlovski (Founder & CEO, Rumble), Jack Mallers (Co-Founder & CEO, Twenty One & Founder & CEO, Strike) and many more.
Since launching the Plan ₿ initiative in March 2022, Tether and the City of Lugano have worked to make Bitcoin and Tether’s USD₮ de facto legal tender in the city, enabling payments at shops and restaurants across Lugano. Many merchants have embraced crypto-friendly promotions, with cashback rewards reaching as high as 30% for customers paying with cryptocurrency. Lugano is also home to the Plan ₿ Summer School, a 10-day intensive blockchain education program, and the Plan ₿ Hub, a co-working space dedicated to blockchain and peer-to-peer communication technologies.
With attendance at nearly 150% of the inaugural 2022 event, the Plan ₿ Forum has become a premier platform for shaping the conversation on Bitcoin, blockchain technology, and financial freedom.
Tickets for the Plan ₿ Forum 2025 are available now at https://planb.lugano.ch/planb-forum.
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.
