Rio de Janeiro is about to become a hub and the first Brazilian city to buy Bitcoin as a store of value, according to the mayor Eduardo Paes, who made the announcement at the Rio Innovation Week.
Paes participated in the first day of the largest innovation and technology meeting in Latin America, along with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez declaring Bitcoiner, who made his municipality one of the first cities in the world to launch its own coin, the MiamiCoin.
Paes said that the city will launch Crypto Rio and invest 1% of the Treasury inBitcoin, as it still remains to be seen how many coins the city will be able to purchase in the market when it acts.
Paes, who is eager to position his city ahead of major metropolises, assured a decree establishing a working group to deal with the issues of buying Bitcoin for Rio de Janeiro's reserve.
Today's world revolves more around a network of cities, the so-called global cities. Miami and Rio are global cities that attract people, functions, and organizations. Paes said that international dialogue is very important, as he revealed his ambition for Rio to become the tech capital of South America.
When paid in Bitcoins, a 10% discount on taxes will be applied.
Rio's mayor also revealed an incentive for those who useBitcoin for payments.
Paes said that the city administration is looking forward to giving a 10% discount on taxes when you pay inBitcoin.
Some details of his plan remain to be revealed, such as who will take custody ofBitcoin purchased by the city, as well as the coins received by tax payments.
In addition, it is not known if Rio will seek help with payments from a specific service provider.
Paes didn't say whether he intends to follow Suarez'footsteps to create Rio's own criptocurrency in the future.