In the picturesque Canton of Ticino, Lugano has transformed itself from a charming Swiss-Italian lakeside city into a burgeoning hub for cryptocurrency and blockchain innovation. Over the past decade, Lugano has embraced digital assets and blockchain technology with a strategic and forward-thinking approach, positioning itself as a leading city in Europe’s crypto landscape. This article explores Lugano's journey to becoming a crypto-friendly city, its implementation of the LVGA strategy, and its aspirations for the future.
Lugano’s crypto journey began with its recognition of the potential of blockchain and digital assets to drive economic growth, foster innovation, and enhance its global reputation. Switzerland has long been a proponent of blockchain technology, with the country often referred to as "Crypto Valley" due to its blockchain-friendly policies and infrastructure, especially in the canton of Zug. Lugano, inspired by this success, sought to replicate and localize these efforts in Ticino, probably achieving even more results, considering that the mayor of Lugano, already in office for some time, is a great supporter
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The city’s commitment to cryptocurrency became evident when it announced partnerships with key blockchain organizations and hosted numerous conferences (like Plan B) to promote dialogue and innovation in the sector. Lugano’s open-minded regulatory stance and proactive engagement with blockchain technology attracted startups, investors, and developers from around the globe.
A significant milestone in Lugano’s crypto journey was the introduction of the LVGA (like a local digital currency) initiative. The strategy is centered around three core pillars:
Lugano’s ambitions go far beyond merely integrating cryptocurrency into its local economy. The city envisions becoming a global leader in blockchain technology and digital finance. Here are some of its future goals:
While Rome prepares a tax sting on cryptocurrencies in the 2025 budget bill for capital gains and other proceeds from blockchain operations in Lugano, mayor Michele Foletti, who has contributed in recent years to transforming the city into a real Monte Carlo, sent the Italians to follow their example, furthermore having an indigenous digital currency like LGVA which is perfectly equivalent to the Swiss franc, has transformed many projects and events for the city into an economic opportunity for everyone, considering that if you use it there is a 10% cash-back and if for example you run a marathon you can also "earn" it. In short, the best resource for the future and which Lugano has a clear key to, is the diversification of payments, therefore freedom, the important thing is to have more and more options
Born in Italy in 1976. Industrial computer technician and Political Science graduate. Web & Web 3.0 skilled. Involved in major Autonomous Organizations Decentralized. Real Estate Expert - Extrajudical civil mediator. Negotiator
Memes are now an integral part of everyday online life and online communities, being in fact images, videos, texts but more particularly and in detail, symbols and fictional characters, which are also entertaining, they spread rapidly, changing and adapting to trends, particularly social ones when it comes to political and social purposes.
But what are memes really? And what is their impact on our society? The term "meme" was coined by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book "The Selfish Gene". Dawkins defined it as a unit of cultural information that is transmitted from individual to individual through imitation. In a digital context, memes take the form of images, videos, GIFs, or texts that are shared online, often with added captions or tongue-in-cheek edits.
The increase in the use of social media can make memes become a real means of communication with which very concrete things are expressed, even: actions and choices. Memes as a means of communication, diffusion and even propaganda are enjoying so much success in terms of visibility and excel so much in terms of replicability and ability to influence, to the point that even the business world has begun to take notice. The more a meme is capable of arousing an emotion, a laugh or a sense of identification, the more likely it is that it will be shared and spread, so why not create awareness and transform it into an opportunity? This replication process leads to the evolution of the meme itself, which changes and adapts to the different cultures and contexts in which it is received. One day, through the memes of a period of an era, we will be able to retrace the trends, fashions and tastes of the web in a specific historical period. Their ability to make us laugh and reflect at the same time makes them a fascinating phenomenon with a great impact on our society.
Among the most viral memes at the moment we find PEPE, a frog face that dresses up in all situations, more precisely PEPE is a green anthropomorphic frog with a humanoid body. The origins of the character date back to the comic Boy's Club, written by the American Matt Furie in 2005, therefore PEPE represents first of all an American experience, but what makes it even more incredible is how Decentralized Finance has made its diffusion as COIN possible starting since 2023 and how much the cryptocurrency market and investors have reacted.
With an ROI that crypto.com cites at around +100,000,000%, an all-time high of 0.000009877 Euros and 420T PEPE in circulation, the cryptocurrency that acts as a tribute to PEPE is in the DeFI world a real project developed within Ethereum in stages and scalable and yet not the only one of its kind, it grows dramatically every day with the aim of becoming the ideal COIN of everyone and for everyone, a currency close to people.
Born in Italy in 1976. Industrial computer technician and Political Science graduate. Web & Web 3.0 skilled. Involved in major Autonomous Organizations Decentralized. Real Estate Expert - Extrajudical civil mediator. Negotiator
The need for a web with social networks that are not owned by a single large company that can use them for all its own purposes, also deciding their trends, but social platforms that, being a resource of the IT network, are immutable, uncensorable and visible without algorithms of uncertain application. Decentralized Finance is more than ever and increasingly an established reality, DeFi representing an alternative and a complete world in itself for new financial horizons, apparently freer and less binding.
If DeFi, therefore represents the world of cryptocurrencies, DeSo is and will be the world of decentralized social networks, a project already full of applications that is trying to network and offer everyone the opportunity to create them; DeSo already offers a world map where you can identify yourself as a web3 enthusiast, clearly not everyone decides to be visible, but those who do will certainly be able to start networking. It tends to seem that the decentralized social networks of the future will be created based on common purposes, projects and topics; this effectively provides further confirmation that social media and communities will be practically the same thing. At the moment the most functional, interconnected, productive and active communities on web 2 are found only on Discord which could prove to be the only "social" that will be saved in a new era for the web.
The DeSo token can be purchased from 2021 as a cryptocurrency, initially it started with a very high and optimistic value, but for two years its decline has been weighty and constant, only at the moment is it recovering. In web 3 there are many projects which, although absolutely interesting, have suffered a huge setback with huge losses, the problem probably lies in the anticipation of the needs that these projects represent, but it can't go much differently from this, presumably it will still take 5 years for the decentralized web to become a reality for almost everyone, at the moment it is for many, but all in all, for very few.
Over 70% of the population still uses social media on the centralized web, especially Meta, and only in the last two years have people begun to develop a certain intolerance in the use of Facebook and Instagram, but it will remain equally and certainly a large pillar in Meta, or Whatsapp for example.
Today, there are over 100 other projects running nodes and building apps on DeSo. You can find the application already available on deso web site
Social tokens, social NFTs, and social tipping, three categories of products pioneered by DeSo, are already changing the game in terms of how creators monetize on the internet, but they're only the beginning.
Because DeSo is money-native and open-source, anyone in the world can start to experiment with new ways for creators to monetize by building an app on top of DeSo. The DeSo blockchain is fundamentally an open protocol that the entire world can build on collaboratively.
Here are a few ideas of what's possible to build on DeSo (fully on-chain):
Born in Italy in 1976. Industrial computer technician and Political Science graduate. Web & Web 3.0 skilled. Involved in major Autonomous Organizations Decentralized. Real Estate Expert - Extrajudical civil mediator. Negotiator
With a challenge on social media it was possible to demonstrate that if you know the words of a 12-word seed phrase, it is extremely easy to access the wallet and withdraw funds.
A seed phase is a recovery phrase, better to say a string of random words generated when a wallet is created (as happens, for example, when creating a metamask) and this allows access to the wallet itself, when accessed from new devices or for a long time etc.
It was a challenge launched on twitter by Wicked Bitcoin, it provided the twelve words in no particular order and offered the equivalent of about 29 dollars in Satoshi (a ridiculous prize proving that the task was rather easy for the insiders). So it was since in about twenty minutes the system administrator Andrew Fraser was able to enter the Wallet.
Apparently neither a quantum computer nor who knows what was necessary but a trivial software application within everyone's reach.
The problem is that the seed phrases must not be kept except in the mind or in a piece of paper, in any case not in the smartphone or PC, if a hacker does not know them the security of the wallet is quite high even if it would be even better if the seed phrase contained 24 words rather than 12.
Fraser then explained at best what are the limits of the results that can be obtained by illustrating the difference in security between the two types of seed keys (ie one with 12 words and one with 24). A 12-word seed key has approximately 128 bits of entropy, while a 24-word seed key boasts 256 bits. When an attacker knows the unordered words of a 12-word seed, there are only about half a billion possible combinations, which is relatively easy to test with a decent software application for that purpose. A 24-word seed, on the other hand, has so many zeros that it's overkill for those tools.
Otherwise, the likelihood that an attacker will be able to decipher a 12-word seed sentence is also bordering on absurd. 24-word seed phrases may be higher, but as Wicked points out in an article following the seed phrase challenge, "they won't actually be violated."
In the end everything is safe but basically not safe!
Born in Italy in 1976. Industrial computer technician and Political Science graduate. Web & Web 3.0 skilled. Involved in major Autonomous Organizations Decentralized. Real Estate Expert - Extrajudical civil mediator. Negotiator
From text to video is already very popular, you can find a lot of web sites which offers somenting like that and the quality of the service is growing more and more - you can try for free a lot of them. The thing becomes even more incredibile and interesting instead if we pass from the text to the generation of videos in virtual reality and in 3D, it seems almost a way to build your own little metaverse or virtual space...
An example is a service offered by Versy Italian developers even if based in Dubai): Text-to-Space. That algorithm enables businesses to create interactive 3D virtual experiences from a text prompt.
The algorithm leverages the latest advancements in generative AI technologies to create virtual environments in real-time, based on a text description. This kind of services open up new opportunities for businesses to engage with their customers in innovative and interactive ways, from virtual product demonstrations to gamified marketing campaigns.
Their ability to capture the attention of the audience and convey strong and meaningful emotions marks their potential as limitless. The development of this special algorithm is backed by partnerships with NVIDIA Inception and Intel OneAPI that support Versy in the development of their cutting-edge technology.
NVIDIA Corporation is a very dinamic US technology Company. It develops in particular graphics processors for the gaming and professional markets, as well as system-on-a-chip modules for mobile computing and the automotive industry.
Among the most interesting things and project there are precisely those services and sites that help you build what you want and need by offering you means that also make things as easy as possibile for you.
Initiatives like these also make virtual environmentes more democratic and less expensive for small users and that's very important, how to say that the VR is for all. You can Join the waitlist to be the first to test Text-to-Space by visiting Versy AI website
Born in Italy in 1976. Industrial computer technician and Political Science graduate. Web & Web 3.0 skilled. Involved in major Autonomous Organizations Decentralized. Real Estate Expert - Extrajudical civil mediator. Negotiator
AAVE is a decentralizated finance protocol that allows people lo lend and borrow crypto fastly and it is confirmed as a successful and well structured DAO.
AAVE born in November 2017 as a DeFi project has shown growth and solidity as a governance, as a protocol and as an ecosystem, it is truly a token model that needs to be analyzed and taken as an example, but this is not investment advice it is a technical observation!
The AAVE company was founded by Stani Kulechov and a team of developers in London but later also acquired an office in Switzerland. Kulechov studied law in Helsinki and it was during his studies that he created AAVE, whose name means "ghost" in Finnish, a symbol of the company and probably also a reference to the possibility of the protocol to make loans securely and anonymously!
Today the capitalization of this Token is excellent with a notable reserve: AAVE represents an excellent example of how a community of 100 thousand owners can well manage the governance of the token making everyone satisfay.
Today the protocol is covered by 300 million AAVE tokens; this protocol is very attentive to confidentiality and its robustness and the community is also concerned with being careful of any kind of vulnerability, AAVE V3 is infact the last goal in terms of risk management and also provides for new repayment methods; V3 allows users to optimise their assets supplied to the Aave Protocol in terms of yield generation and borrowing power.
The community works around the clock and we have yet another example of how the Discord platform responds to the most complex governance. Liquidity is at the heart of the AAVE Protocol it enables the protocol's operations and user experience.
The AAVE system allows the interest rate to automatically adjust according to offers and demands and therefore to bring the market into balance. When there is a lot of demand for a given loan token, the rate goes up, the supply increases, and everything comes back into balance.
Every day users from all over the world make exchanges with AAVE for a value of around 200 million euros.
Despite the solidity and success AAVE is now facing two problems, which could lead to a sharp temporary "decline": the first is the loss of one of its largest holders (in the blockchain it is always and immediately visible how capital is moved) the other is that AAVE's DAO voted by an overwhelming majority to switch to another stablecoin compared to BUSD which in his small way for now he had however given the desired guarantees
Born in Italy in 1976. Industrial computer technician and Political Science graduate. Web & Web 3.0 skilled. Involved in major Autonomous Organizations Decentralized. Real Estate Expert - Extrajudical civil mediator. Negotiator
Many still don't know it but the project started right from Italy thanks to the imagination and initiative of some of the best known authors and screenwriters of the cinematographic scenario of the last decades.
This new cinematographic reality, one of the most anticipated web 3.0, blockchain and AI projects of 2024, is a new way of creating cinema and vision through interaction, participation, creation and productivity, and much more...
And here, to make this 3.0 turning point in the world of cinema and screenwriting known to the world, the most well-known and sought-after form of organisation in the blockchain world was used -> DAO (decentralised autonomous organisations) which, if based on communities with active roles, are the best way not only to attract investors but also to build loyalty and generate income and opportunities for followers.
So here we have a very successful first example, a DAO based on an incredibly futuristic design ... and with a ready-made stepping stone. The invitation is to discover it by following it through the discord community, on linkedin and on twitter. Origami, a very important incubator and accelerator of start ups and DAOs of the Silicon Valley, has invested in this project, so we will see some good ones!!
The adventure both from the point of view of the cinematic revolution 3.0 and from the point of view of what will be the first cinematic experiences where in fact the Metaverse will basically be experienced as a film on TV.
The incredible special effects and a community that participates in evolutions of subsequent episodes (for example) and beyond, starts from a new world in 2137 after Christ where various worlds are faced with new life and new needs in completely distinct ways.
The aim is to start to compete with the might Marvel Cinematic Universe in just a few years. The site 2137ad.com can give a first idea of what awaits us!
Born in Italy in 1976. Industrial computer technician and Political Science graduate. Web & Web 3.0 skilled. Involved in major Autonomous Organizations Decentralized. Real Estate Expert - Extrajudical civil mediator. Negotiator
Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have been gaining popularity in recent years, with many people buying, selling, and collecting these digital assets. However, as the market for NFTs grows, so does the concern for their security. Specifically, many people who use MetaMask, a popular digital wallet for storing and managing NFTs (and to authenticate in many platforms), have raised concerns about the security of their NFTs within the wallet.
In fact, Metamask has begun to provide very clear alerts during some operations, suggesting that if you want to sell an NFT that is inside your wallet, when this happens with an attacker, he can steal all the NFTs in your wallet. If you are interested in selling your NFTs, you run many risks, precisely due to a problem of vulnerability of the smart contract.
All of this also suggests that many investors are choosing to keep NFTs in their wallet rather than sell them
One major concern is that MetaMask is a hot wallet, meaning that it is connected to the internet and can be vulnerable to hacking attempts. While MetaMask has implemented various security features such as seed phrase backups and two-factor authentication, some users have reported losing access to their wallets or having their NFTs stolen due to a lack of proper security measures. Another concern is that MetaMask does not currently offer a way to insure NFTs, which means that if a user's NFTs are stolen or lost, there is no way to recover them. This lack of insurance options can make many potential NFT buyers and holders hesitant to use MetaMask as their primary wallet. It's important to mention that, the problem is not specific to MetaMask, but to the current state of the NFT market, as many other wallets and platforms also face similar security issues.
To mitigate these concerns, users can take several steps to secure their NFTs. One important step is to ensure that their MetaMask wallet is properly secured, including using a strong password, enabling two-factor authentication, and regularly backing up their seed phrase. Additionally, users should be cautious when buying NFTs from untrusted sources and should always verify the authenticity of an NFT before purchasing it.
In conclusion, while MetaMask is a popular and convenient option for managing NFTs, the security of NFTs within the wallet remains a concern for many users. It's important for both the wallet providers and the users to be aware of these security issues and take the necessary steps to protect their NFTs.
Concrete and satisfactory solutions have not yet been found, there is reason to think that the largest banks are inserting themselves into web 3.0 among the various objectives also to become the guarantors and/or be the solution to the problem
Born in Italy in 1976. Industrial computer technician and Political Science graduate. Web & Web 3.0 skilled. Involved in major Autonomous Organizations Decentralized. Real Estate Expert - Extrajudical civil mediator. Negotiator
Browsing Unstoppable Domanis, the web site who sell web 3.0 domains ( .nft, .wallet, .blockchain, .888, .zil, .crypto, .bitcoin, and the more expensive .x ) you can find a lot of opportunities (at the moment) if you want buy a web 3.0 domain with an affordable price, but you can find also prices very very high.
For Italian language key words for example, "pizza" seems to be one of the more expensive, pizza.x worth 250.000 $ and pizza.nft 100.000 $, but they are not only the most rapresentative word of Italy such as pizza, pesto, vino, or Italia and so on, that are very expensive, swear words - if you can still find one - also have considerable prices (20.000-50.000$) and than: the names (for example marco.x worth 10.000$), short idioms ( dio.crypto worth 9.000$, ciao.x worth 8.000$)...
It's really funny that domains starting with "fra" and "bro" (for example) are nowhere to be found (and "fra", "bro", "gg" - by themselves - they are even protected, this could mean ( as for other examples ) that the biggest buyers of domanis in web 3.0 are generation Z (1997-2012) i.e. more likely twenty-year-olds.
These domains that are transformed into NFT to be owned forever can then be actually used or sold; at the moment there are not many sites to see in web 3.0 but only because either you know the domain you are looking for or you don't see anything!!!
Web 3.0 will be something very particular and very far from the mentality of generations before generation z, but it is the future and it doesn't mean it won't be nice, it's up to us.
Born in Italy in 1976. Industrial computer technician and Political Science graduate. Web & Web 3.0 skilled. Involved in major Autonomous Organizations Decentralized. Real Estate Expert - Extrajudical civil mediator. Negotiator
