Rio De Janeiro To Accept Bitcoin For Real Estate Taxes

By Kevin • March 27, 2022 1:38 pm • Comments

The city of Rio De Janeiro in Brazil has recently announced that it will soon be accepting Bitcoin as payment for real estate taxes.

This new tax change is scheduled to take effect as soon as 2023 which makes the city one of the first cities in the world to incorporate a digital asset into such an important tax sector.

The announcement was made by Mayor Eduardo Paes who has been very pro-crypto and was pivotal in making partnerships between the city and major crypto firms to facilitate growth in this industry.

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As a result of this new development, the CEO of Binance also responded that the firm would open a new office within the city.

CoinTelegraph reports:

Supporting this cause led by the Brazilian Mayor Eduardo Paes, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao announced to open a new office in the region stating that “He’s done his part. We are working on ours.”

The rollout of this initiative will place Rio de Janeiro as the first Brazilian city to make BTC payments mainstream. According to the translated announcement:

“To enable the operation, the municipality will hire companies specialized in converting crypto assets into reais. In this way, the City Hall will receive 100% of the amount in the currency.”

Brazilian secretary Pedro Paulo further acknowledged that the city’s goal — with the acceptance of cryptocurrencies — is to develop a solid market of this new asset class in the city, adding:

“We will stimulate the circulation of cryptocurrencies by integrating them into the payment of taxes, as in the case of IPTU and, in the future, this can be expanded to services such as taxi races, for example.”

Utilizing a major digital asset as a payment option was not the only change that the city was implementing as it was reported that it would also start implementing NFTs in various market sectors.

The city sees the potential here that it could be helpful to create NFTs of tourist attractions which would bolster local and cultural economies.

Such a move from the city makes it one of the most crypto friendly regions in the world alongside El Salvador which is known for its move to make Bitcoin legal tender.

In addition, the city is also looking for partnerships with firms that are able to easily exchange crypto with fiat so that the currencies are easily interchangeable for citizens when needed.

The regulatory environment here has been observed by investors to be the most favorable so far for future growth when compared to other regions that have actively been stifling growth.

CryptoPotato reports:

Back in January, the city’s mayor introduced a working group focusing on how to accelerate the usage of cryptocurrencies to boost the local economy.

The note from the City Hall outlined the creation of a Municipal Committee for Crypto investments (CMCI), which will mitigate risks and develop regulatory frameworks.

The report informed that the city wants to enter the non-fungible token world as well. Some suggestions emerged to create NFTs with images of tourist attractions.

Brazil has been among the countries with a more open stance on the digital asset industry, greenlighting one of the first Bitcoin ETFs last year.

A survey from September 2021, shortly after El Salvador legalized bitcoin, concluded that nearly half of Brazilians support the idea of adopting the primary cryptocurrency.

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