Rio De Janeiro Becomes First City In Brazil To Accept Taxes In Crypto

The Brazil city famed for its beaches plans to lead innovation in the crypto industry in the country.
Rio De Janeiro Becomes First City In Brazil To Accept Taxes In Crypto
  • Rio in 2023 will be the first city in Brazil to accept tax payments in crypto.
  • City officials have revealed that they plan to incorporate digital assets into other services soon.
  • Following the announcement, CZ revealed that Binance would be working on setting up an office in the city.

Rio will be the first city in Brazil to accept taxes in crypto come 2023. The Brazil city famed for its beaches plans to lead innovation in the crypto industry in the country.

Rio Leading Crypto Adoption In Brazil

On Friday, Rio announced that it would be the first city in Brazil to accept crypto payments for taxes. The announcement came during an event dubbed “Carioca Criptoactivity,” organized by city officials.

As part of a report from a committee set up by Mayor Eduardo Paes in January, it was disclosed that property taxes, known as ‘Imposto sobre a propriedade predial e territorial Urbana (IPTU)’ from 2023 can now be paid using cryptocurrency. Officials of the city’s arm responsible for finance, economic development, and innovation, Pedro Paulo and Chicão Bulhões, presented the report with the Mayor in attendance.

Mayor Paes said they were sending a clear message that the city recognized digital assets and cryptocurrencies with this announcement. He believes that such policies would create use cases for crypto in the city of Rio. During the report, Officials disclosed that the city would be working closely with crypto companies that could convert crypto to Brazilian reais.

Also, speaking at the event, Pedro Paulo disclosed that the use of crypto for payments in the city would extend to other services. He also added that Rio saw the potential of blockchain technology beyond payments and discussed how arts and culture could also be encouraged through NFTs. In his own words:

“We are going to stimulate the circulation of cryptocurrencies, integrating them with the payment of taxes, as in the case of IPTU and, in the future, this may be extended to services such as taxi rides, for example. Going further, we will use these crypto assets to stimulate the arts, culture and tourism, through NFTs, and create a solid and responsible governance policy to evaluate the realization of crypto investments.”

Investing Public Funds In Crypto And CZ’s Influence

As stated by Paulo, municipal officials are looking to explore the possibility of investing public funds into crypto. In line with his statement during the meeting, officials also announced that the city was creating a Municipal Committee for Crypto Investments (CMCI). The group would be responsible for developing a regulatory compliant framework that would allow public funds to be invested in crypto.

Secretary Chicão Bulhões said, “With this further step, we are at the forefront and show the world that the city is open to investments in the sector.” Bulhões revealed that the city’s concentration of research institutes and universities would allow them to make even greater leaps in the city’s economy using blockchain.

Notably, following the announcement, Changpeng Zhao, Binance’s CEO, revealed that in his visit to Brazil, he had an agreement with the city’s Mayor to set up shop in Rio. CZ acknowledging the new milestone said it was time for Binance to fulfill its part of the agreement.

Risa Skyes
Skyes is a Senior Editor at CoinJot with a remarkable passion for Blockchain, Crypto, Metaverse, NFTs, and All things Web 3.0. Risa.Skyes [at] coinjot.com