Rio de Janeiro mayor to invest 1% of city reserves into Bitcoin

The adoption of Bitcoin continues to surge globally. The latest country to come into the limelight in crypto matters is Brazil, after the mayor of Rio de Janeiro announced plans to allocate 1% of the city’s reserves to Bitcoin.

The mayor, Eduardo Paes, will be joining cities such as Miami in the US that are also investing in crypto assets to boost the city revenues.

Brazilian mayor pushes for crypto adoption

A local report stated that Paes was allegedly making plans to turn the city into a major cryptocurrency hub. During the Rio Innovation week held this week, the mayor noted that continued adoption of digital assets would turn the city into “Crypto Rio.”

Paes spoke in a panel that included the mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez. Suarez is a popular Bitcoin bull and even announced that he would receive his first paycheck as mayor in Bitcoin. Miami has also launched the MiamiCoin, a city coin through which the city will launch a Bitcoin Yield program for the city residents. Thus, Paes’s decision could be following in the footsteps taken by the pro-Bitcoin mayor.

“We are going to launch Crypto Rio and invest 1% of the treasury in cryptocurrency. The government has a role to play,” Paes said. The mayor further added that the state was looking towards exempting firms in the crypto sector from paying taxes to attract such firms.

The finance secretary for Rio de Janeiro, Pedro Paulo, was also involved in the panel discussions, where he stated that the city was looking towards giving a 10% discount on property taxes in Brazil. This discount would apply to property taxes paid with Bitcoin. However, Paulo noted that a legal framework to make this possible needed to be adopted.

Crypto regulatory framework in Brazil

The crypto regulatory landscape in Brazil is welcoming. The country has been looking towards measures that will boost the adoption of cryptocurrencies.

The federal deputy in the country, Luizao Goulart, has already proposed a bill that looks towards legalizing cryptocurrencies for payment. Goulart proposed this bill in November, using cryptocurrencies seeking to apply to both the private and public sectors.

In December, one of the leading cryptocurrency payment firms in Brazil, Mercado Pago, announced the launch of a feature that allows Brazilians to buy, sell and hold cryptocurrencies. Some of the leading cryptocurrencies will be available for Brazilians under this option.

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