90% of shops in Cannes to accept crypto by summer 2025, says Web3 Exec

Local merchants in the French city of Cannes will start accepting crypto payments. According to Artem Shaginyan, founder and head of strategy of Web3 payment company Lunu Pay, the Cannes municipal government hopes for a 90% crypto acceptance rate among local merchants.

He added, “When a city like Cannes, known globally for culture and commerce, starts integrating crypto at scale, it shows that Web3 payments aren’t just a niche thing anymore. It’s about proving that crypto can work in everyday settings, not just online or in theory.”

Cannes Mayor held a training session to urge merchants to accept crypto payment integration

Cannes, which attracts more than 3 million visitors annually, is striving to become a global hub of crypto tourism. Many shop owners are said to view the acceptance of cryptos as a way to cater to the high-net-worth crowd and tech-savvy travelers, who are increasingly embracing decentralized finance rather than traditional banking.

As part of its ongoing efforts to prepare for the Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC) in the summer of 2025, Cannes is working towards encouraging even more local merchants to accept crypto payments.

Cannes mayor David Lisnard has personally called for crypto payments, presenting it as a step toward modernization rather than from an ideological standpoint.

Local shops will start accepting crypto payments this summer, and the city’s municipal government seems ready to welcome more crypto investors.

In February, the Cannes Mayor held a training session for shop owners and professionals to encourage crypto payments incorporation.

By improving the city’s payment ecosystem in the long term, the city hopes to draw in more customers with high disposable income.

Cannes is not the only city that has gone down the crypto route when it comes to modernizing its payment mechanisms. In December 2023, the Swiss city of Lugano, a municipality of the country’s Ticino crypto valley, started accepting Bitcoin and stablecoin payments for taxes and municipal services. Before that, Governor Jared Polis of Colorado had green-lighted crypto tax payments in September 2022.

Vancouver is also on the list of cities that have adopted crypto. In December 2024, it approved a motion to explore Bitcoin’s incorporation into the city’s financial system and possibly integrate a Bitcoin treasury strategy.

North Carolina Representative Neal Jackson also introduced a bill, “The North Carolina Digital Asset Freedom Act,” on April 10. If it passes, the state will accept cryptocurrencies as a recognized tax payment form. However, the added conditions restrict the type of cryptocurrency that can be used.

For an asset to be used for payments, it needs to have a market cap above $750 billion to make it liquid enough to cover large transactions. Then again, its daily trading volume should be more than $10 billion and have at least 10 years of market history.

Panama City joined the list of crypto-accepting jurisdictions

On April 15, Panama City Mayor Mayer Mizrachi declared that the city would accept cryptocurrency payments for taxes and municipal fees, extending to bus tickets and permits. So far, the city has only allowed payments in Bitcoin, Ether, Circle’s USDC, and Tether’s USDT.

Before April 15, however, the city, even under previous administrations, had tried to introduce pro-crypto legislation but failed.

Mizrachi argued that the main reason the others were unsuccessful was due to the existing laws requiring transactions exclusively in U.S. dollars. He said his government bypassed those requirements by collaborating with a bank that immediately converts any digital assets received into US dollars. This way meant they could incorporate crypto into their payment system without drafting any new legislation.

He also believes implementing crypto into their systems will help protect their public treasuries from inflation, increase investment, and improve the city’s status.

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