Eduardo Paez, mayor of the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, wants to allocate 1% of the city’s treasury to bitcoin (BTC), Cointelegraph Brazil reports.
Baez reportedly announced plans to “Crypto Rio,” or turn the city into a cryptocurrency hub, during Rio Innovation Week Thursday, according to local news agency O Globo.
The mayor spoke about Rio’s crypto ambitions on a panel with Miami Mayor and Bitcoin Thorn Francis Suarez, who began making his BTC salary in November 2021.
“We will launch Crypto Rio and invest 1% of the treasury in cryptocurrency. The government has a role to play,” Paes said, adding that the state is also planning to offer tax incentives to the industry.
The group also included high-ranking Brazilian officials such as the city’s finance minister, Pedro Paulo, who indicated that the administration is considering a 10 percent discount on property taxes in Brazil when making payments with bitcoin. “Let’s explore the legal framework for this,” he said.
On the topic: ‘Mecca of Mining’: Brazil Considers Zero Tax on Production of ‘Green’ Bitcoin
The news comes as the Brazilian government is increasingly strengthening its stance on bitcoin and the cryptocurrency industry, with Federal Representative Luisao Goulart in November proposing a bill to legalize cryptocurrency as a payment method for public and private sector workers. In December, MercadoPago, a major payments company in Brazil, made it possible for Brazilian citizens to buy, sell and store major cryptocurrencies such as BTC and Ether (ETH).
