Rio de Janeiro's Finance and Planning Secretary Andrea Senko said the city government is working to turn Rio into Brazil's crypto capital.
Brazil is one of the most emerging economies for the cryptocurrency industry today and Rio de Janeiro, the second most populous city in the country, has plans to lead this innovation to become a major financial technology hub.
Although the cryptocurrency market has seen a significant drop this 2022, the Secretary of Finance and Planning of Rio de Janeiro, Andrea Senko, highlighted that Cryptoassets are among the greatest and most important technological advances of our times.
Senko said that Rio de Janeiro is always attentive to major changes and innovations in the world and plans to stay at the forefront of these new innovations through the adoption of cryptocurrencies.
During the interview, he revealed that the city will move forward into the future and will become the capital of crypto innovation the country.
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Cryptocurrencies will play a central role in the development of Rio de Janeiro
“The goal is to make Rio (de Janeiro) the crypto ecosystem of Brazil, helping the city become the country’s capital of innovation and technology”, Senko said during the interview.
As the main crypto ecosystem in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro has plans to boosting investment in cryptocurrencies e Integrate Bitcoin and other cryptoassets as a means of payment for municipal taxes.
In addition to this, Rio also plans Adopting NFTs to incentivize art and culture, which will also allow the city to raise funds for its municipal treasury through the sale of these digital assets.
At the end of March this year, the Rio de Janeiro city council reported Starting in 2023, city residents will be able to use their cryptocurrencies to pay the property and urban land tax (IPTU). This initiative makes Rio the first city in Brazil to offer its citizens the possibility of paying a tax using crypto assets.
The city council also revealed that it will expand cryptocurrency payments in the city in the future, so that its residents can pay for other types of products, goods and services with these digital assets.
These initiatives are part of its plan to officially recognize the crypto ecosystem and will allow the city to stimulate the circulation of cryptocurrencies within its local economy, to create a solid crypto market that drives and guarantees its development.
Rio will invest 1% of its treasury in Bitcoin
In mid-January, Eduardo Paes, mayor of Rio de Janeiro, reported that the Brazilian city will invest 1% of its municipal treasury in bitcoin. He also revealed that Rio will have its own digital currency, called RioCoin.
Paes has been inspired by Mayor Francis Suarez of Miami (United States) to join crypto innovation.
On the other hand, the city has a Municipal Crypto Investment Committee (CMCI) dedicated to developing strategies that promote investment in cryptocurrencies within the city limits and its regulations.
The Secretary of Finance and Planning of Rio de Janeiro assured that this Committee is currently working on the creation of a cryptocurrency investment policy and a governance model for decision-making related to the crypto industry.
Continue reading: Brazil has created a special investigation unit for cryptocurrencies
