Another major metropolis is jumping headfirst into the world of crypto by investing in the digital space and proposing discounts for citizens paying taxes in Bitcoin (BTC).
Rio de Janeiro, the South American city of almost 7 million people, now plans to invest 1% of its treasury funds into crypto.
According to Brazilian newspaper O Globo, Rio de Janeiro mayor Eduardo Paes announced the new investment strategy at Rio Innovation Week on Thursday.
Pedro Paulo, Rio’s secretary of finance, says the city may offer discounts to residents who pay their property taxes in Bitcoin.
“We are studying the possibility of paying taxes with an additional discount if you pay with Bitcoins.
You take the discount of the single quota of 7%, it would be 10% if you pay in Bitcoin.
Let’s study the legal framework so that we can do that.”
Paes spoke at the Rio Innovation event with Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, another mayoral BTC supporter.
Suarez has publicly attempted to position Miami as a hub for crypto. The South Florida city’s government voted in September to accept millions of dollars generated by MiamiCoin (MIA), the city’s very own digital asset.
First announced in June, crypto development company CityCoins Inc. launched the decentralized altcoin in August. MIA had generated more than $21 million in revenue as of November.
Suarez also announced in November that the South Florida city planned to develop digital wallets for users to receive Bitcoin payments derived from the MiamiCoin project. Users will have the ability to stake their MIA and receive passive Bitcoin dividend yields from the token, according to the mayor.
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