The mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, has revealed that the city could be the first in Brazil to buy Bitcoin as a store of value.
Rio De Janeiro wants to include Bitcoin among its reserves
This was reported by the local newspaper livecoins.com.br citing a speech given by Paes himself during his participation yesterday in an event also attended by the mayor of Miami, Francis Suarez, the Rio Innovation Week.
Suarez is a true fan of Bitcoin and has turned Miami into the main US hub for the country’s crypto community.
It is possible that Paes wants to follow in Suarez’s footsteps, so much so that he has announced that the city of Rio de Janeiro will publish a decree today establishing a specific working group to address precisely the various issues related to the purchase of Bitcoin.
The goal would be to allocate 1% of the city treasury’s currency reserves to BTC.
It is worth noting that over the last few years the Brazilian currency, the Real, has lost more than 45% of its value against the US dollar, so as a long-term store of value it is not very good at all. In the same period, BTC has appreciated by 900% against the USD.
Moreover, there are already political institutions that hold Bitcoin, such as the state of El Salvador.
The Bitcoin projects of the mayor of Rio
Paes also pointed out that he intends to offer the inhabitants of Rio de Janeiro the possibility of getting “discounts” if they decide to pay their taxes, such as the IPTU, in BTC. The secretary of finance, Pedro Paulo, and the secretary of economic development, innovation and simplification, Chicão Bulhões, have stated that the discount will be 7%.
In order to draft the regulations that will allow this, Paes is putting together a working group that should be commissioned today.
According to livecoins.com.br, the city’s decision could put Rio de Janeiro ahead of the world’s major metropolises, and position Brazil as a country to watch out for when it comes to Bitcoin adoption innovations.
Rio de Janeiro is by far one of the largest cities in South America, and the world, with nearly 7 million inhabitants, rising to 11 if the entire urban area is considered.
Mayor Paes said:
“Today’s world revolves much more around networks of cities, the so-called global cities. Miami and Rio are global cities, attracting people, activities and organizations. This international dialogue is very important”.
The goal is to attract as many crypto companies to the area as possible.
Source: https://en.cryptonomist.ch/2022/01/14/city-rio-de-janeiro-buy-bitcoin/