Key takeaways:
- The mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, plans to invest 1% of the city’s Treasury in bitcoin.
- If he goes through with it, the megacity will become the first in Brazil to buy the main cryptocurrency as a store of value.
Mayor Eduardo Paes addressed his ambitions at Rio Innovation Week in a lecture with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who is a bitcoin enthusiast.
“We’re launching Crypto Rio and putting 1% of the Treasury into bitcoin,” Paes remarked.
Suarez’s efforts to make Miami into a bitcoin hub were lauded by the 52-year-old member of Brazil’s Social Democratic Party. Previously, the latter stated that he is open to the notion of placing 1% of his city’s Treasury reserves in bitcoin.
While Miami has established itself as the United States’ cryptocurrency capital, Rio hopes to establish itself as the digital asset industry’s South American headquarters. Paes declared:
“Rio de Janeiro has everything it needs to become South America’s digital hub.” The city’s image as the ideal destination to work, live, and invent is strengthened by events like the Rio Innovation Week.”
Because Rio de Janeiro is Brazil’s financial capital, the possibility of bitcoin adoption is seen as a significant step forward for the cryptocurrency’s development. It also has one of the largest economies in Latin America and one of the fastest-growing economies in the world.
Mayor Paes wants to offer a ten per cent tax discount if taxes are paid in the leading digital asset, in line with the bitcoin investment. Last year, Miami’s mayor expressed similar ambitions, stating that citizens would be able to pay taxes in BTC rather than US dollars.
Eduardo Paes isn’t the first politician in Brazil to declare support for the main cryptocurrency. Congressman Luiz Goularte Alves introduced a bill in November 2021 that would allow public and private sector employees to be paid in bitcoin.
The proposal’s first sentences read, “This Law specifies that a portion of the worker’s remuneration can, optionally, be made using cryptocurrency.”
Employees would be able to choose what percentage of their salary they want to be in crypto and what percentage they want to be in fiat currencies, according to the bill. The proposed motion must be approved by the employer.
