Mayor Of Rio de Janeiro To Invest 1% Of City’s Treasury In BTC

The mayor of Rio de Janeiro considers investing 1% of the city’s treasury in Bitcoin as we are reading more in today’s Bitcoin latest news.

Eduardo Paes, the mayor of Rio De Janeiro aims to allocate 1% of the city’s Treasury in BTC and If he proceeds, the city will become the first in Brazil to purchase the main cryptocurrency as a store of value. The mayor presented his plans at Rio Innovation Week as he discussed the subject in a lecture with the mayor of Miami Francis Suarez. Paes said:

“We are going to launch Crypto Rio and invest 1% of the Treasury in bitcoin.”

The 52-year old member of Brazil’s Social Democratic Party praised Suarez and his efforts to transform Miami into a crypto hub. The latter said he is open to exploring the idea of putting 1% of the city’s treasury reserves in BTC. While Miami is in a good position to become the crypto hub of the USA, Rio aims to become the South American hub for the crypto asset industry as Paes asserted:

“Rio de Janeiro has everything it takes to become the tech capital of South America. Events like the Rio Innovation Week come to strengthen the city’s image as the perfect place to work, live, and innovate.”

The possible BTC adoption is considered a huge step ahead for the development of the primary crypto since Rio is the financial heart of Brazil and the economy is also one of the biggest in the Latin American region and it is among the fastest-growing globally. In line with the BTC investment, mayor Paes was looking to provide a 10% discount on taxes when paid in BTC. Last year, Miami’s leader displayed similar intentions saying he will allow residents to pay taxes in BTC rather than US dollars. Eduardo Paes is not the first Brazilian politician to show love for cryptocurrency. The congressman Luiz Goularte Alves proposed a new bill to enable public and private sector workers to get paid in BTC:

“This Law establishes that part of the remuneration of the worker can, optionally, be made through cryptocurrencies.”

According to the bill, the employees will be able to choose the percentage of their salaries that they want to receive in crypto and what in fiat. The employer has to agree to the proposed motion.