The interview with Paolo Ardoino, from Tether, conducted by The Cryptonomist on the occasion of the Plan B Forum in Lugano, offers an enlightening insight into the expansion path and future ambitions of this event dedicated to the philosophy and ecosystem of Bitcoin. In a dialogue that ranges from recent successes to projects in the pipeline, Ardoino reflects on the milestones achieved by Plan B, which is attracting an increasingly large audience and a group of high-profile speakers, not only related to Bitcoin as a currency, but also as a symbol of financial freedom and innovation.
During the interview, Ardoino explores the local synergies created in Lugano, such as the partnership with the Lugano Football Club, showing how Plan B is promoting the adoption of Bitcoin also through educational paths. Furthermore, he reveals Tether’s technological projects that aim to transform the sector, from the tokenization of real assets to solutions connected to artificial intelligence. Ardoino also discusses the potential impact of the upcoming US elections on the world of cryptocurrencies, highlighting how Bitcoin is now consolidating its role in public debate and international politics. This interview offers a comprehensive view of the evolution of Plan B and the prospects of Tether, opening a window on future technological and regulatory scenarios of the blockchain.
The Plan B program of Lugano and the vision of Paolo Ardoino
Plan B has nonetheless seen considerable growth and a lot of attention in recent years, and I wanted to ask you what have been the most important milestones and successes achieved, and what surprised you the most this year?
Well, first of all, the number of people is increasing, the speakers always, we have a basket of speakers that is super interesting. We also have new speakers, and the idea is always to bring a bit of novelty and expand beyond just the world of bitcoin, so not just talking about bitcoin as a currency but as an idea, that is, as an idea of financial freedom and thus applying this idea to many other concepts. Like technological and educational freedom, for example, so we want to cover many different areas and we don’t want it to be an event different from the others. I also really like the event in Prague, BTC Prague, but that one is very “pure bitcoin.” We don’t think of bitcoin only as a currency, but we think of all the possible uses and cases of bitcoin, I want to create an event linked to bitcoin as an idea, as a philosophy, as a way of living.
I feedback degli utenti Bitcoin
What feedback have you received from current users of Plan B and how do these contribute to improving the platform itself, and have there been any use cases or local adoptions that particularly impressed you?
Meanwhile today, at 12:30, we announce the partnership with Lugano Football Club. It is a partnership that I really like. In recent years from 2022-21, we have seen all these companies from the crypto world putting their logo on football team jerseys. We have two options: choose whether to put Tether or the bitcoin logo on the jersey of a team that is doing very well (even in the Europa League). We chose to put the bitcoin logo, not Tether, because the message we want to convey is an educational one. We want people to become interested in bitcoin also through sports, as it is somewhat evident that we are not doing it as a marketing pitch, otherwise, Tether would be everywhere, but we are truly doing it as an educational tool.
The long-term vision of Plan B according to Paolo Ardoino
What is your long-term vision for Plan B and how do you envision future growth both in terms of technological innovation and awareness among users and the general public?
In the meantime, we started with a concrete experiment. Very often, there is talk of the metaverse; our world is extremely digital, and when you spend too much time in the digital realm, you might lose connection with the real world. So the people we expect to use what we create are the merchants, the people who might be driving a taxi, teaching at school, doing a thousand other jobs that are not those of the crypto geek.
We wanted to try in a real territory, in an effectively circumscribed territory, the effectiveness of what we have created and studied up to today (and it is one of the most important tests), until you try it you will never know if it works. Then instead we are seeing that among the universities, in Lugano there are three universities that support us, there are more than 350 merchants who have integrated the payment system in Bitcoin, USDT and LVGA, which is our local bitcoin, we have been able to understand what people’s doubts are, the problems and therefore refine the products.
So do you think that interaction with people has been one of the important keys for this project?
Definitely yes, also because if we don’t do it for people, there is no reason to do it.
The future of Tether (USDT)
Moving on to Tether, what are the developments that most excite Tether looking ahead to 2025, and are there any new features, updates, or partnerships that we should keep an eye on?
We have a lot of projects almost ready to be launched, a tokenization project that ranges from the tokenization of stocks, bonds, funds, but also the creation of new stablecoins that will be launched at the end of November.
Today I will say a bit in my speech called Unstoppable Together, I will give a bit of a vision of what we are going to create, we have products related to artificial intelligence, to other real world assets, so today I am making a pre-announcement without giving too much information but we have more than ten projects in the pipeline almost nearing completion that in my opinion are amazing.
And this is exactly where I wanted to get to. Because you mentioned new technologies: not just limiting oneself to seeing bitcoin as just bitcoin but to all the possibilities it has ahead. You mentioned artificial intelligence just now. Will it be a key for 2025 regarding Tether? Will it be a key regarding the crypto world in general?
Tether has already invested more than a billion dollars to acquire the majority of Northern Data, which is a company focusing on creating infrastructure for artificial intelligence. It has acquired more than 24 thousand Nvidia chips and is one of the largest independent players in the world. Therefore, with them, we are studying quite a few products related to the world of AI, always, however, conceived with the philosophy of bitcoin. My problem with AI is that it is such a powerful tool and is a tool that today is already politicized and centralized, so we want to make it a tool that shares the idea of bitcoin of decentralization, privacy, and transparency from the other point of view.
The elections in the United States
With the upcoming US elections, could the regulation of cryptocurrencies, particularly bitcoin, change?
In my opinion, the interesting thing about the American elections is that bitcoin has become a field not of battle but of discussion. I explained on the stage of the panel that after 10-15 years of battles that the crypto world has fought, we made it! You know there are the 4 stages of adoption: first they ignore you, then they laugh, then they attack you, and then they accept you. We have reached acceptance! With the BlackRock ETF, with the fact that bitcoin is part of the electoral campaign from both sides, it will be interesting to see how our industry, our community will evolve. When the battle is over, for 10 years you are always there trying to explain, when all that is over, so there is only calm, what will happen? How will we evolve? In my opinion, it is a super interesting question.
Tether is ready for a potential change in political leadership regarding the United States?
I have to say that the world is watching the United States. Obviously, of course. However, in my opinion, whoever wins will be a net positive for the crypto world, because it is now mainstream, it is a fundamental part of the lives of tens of millions of citizens in the United States, so I am very positive about the outcome.
