President Of Brazil Doesn’t Know What Bitcoin Is

Even though Bitcoin has been here for some time now and part of the topics on many best cryptocurrency news sites, it seems like there are people who still don’t know what the dominant cryptocurrency represents. One of them is the president of Brazil, who recently told the media that he does not know what Bitcoin is or how it is used.

We are talking about Jair Bolsonaro, who is the active president of Brazil. Bolsonaro has recently stated that he doesn’t know what BTC is and with that endorsed the suspension of a project that would create a cryptocurrency for indigenous people to use, as local Brazilian media outlets reported on June 4.

The president of Brazil supported the Minister of Women, Family and Human Rights, Damares Alves in the termination of a project worth 44.9 million Brazilian reals (approx. $11.5 million) between the National Indian Foundation (FUNAI) and the Federal Fluminense University (UFF) which promoted the creation of a cryptocurrency for indigenous people to use. He delivered his comments about his lack of knowledge around Bitcoin during an interview with Ratinho’s SBT show on June 4.

After claiming that the Minister had acted properly in blocking a project that “wanted to teach the Indian to use Bitcoin,” the president of Brazil was asked by a show participant if he knew what Bitcoin was. He confidently replied:

“I do not know what bitcoin is.”

The president went viral in the latest cryptocurrency news for this statement. Shortly after this speech, the president of Brazil rectified his statement and said that Bitcoin ws a “virtual currency.” He also noted that the project offered by FUNAI and the UFF will purportedly never receive funding or support – and never integrate Bitcoin in it.

This is not the first controversial statement that the president of Brazil Bolsonaro has made so far. Over his career, he has been known for such statements regarding indigenous people, promising to roll back protections on their lands.

As we previously reported, the indigenous crypto project in Brazil was suspended by the government of the country and the president of Brazil because of a lack of technical analysis. The altcoin news at the time showed that there was no “detailed description of the project” and that the contract was signed directly between FUNAI and UFF instead through a legal bidding process.