Rio Official Explains Why City Is Putting 1% of Its Treasury Reserves Into Crypto

Chicão Bulhões, the city’s secretary of economic development, told CoinDesk TV that the move seeks to reduce locals’ distrust of cryptocurrencies and turn the city into a crypto hub like Miami. Read the full article by Andres Engler

Brazil is looking to take a big step for its country by investing 1% of its treasury reserves into cryptocurrencies. They will probably be putting those reserves into Bitcoin and Ethereum as they are the only two that can be relied upon until further notice. Brazilian lawmakers want to see Rio de Janeiro be a global hub for digital currencies. The plan to make this happen was announced by Rio de Janeiro’s, Mayor Eduardo Paes, on January 14th.

“We know that [bitcoin] is volatile, that some people criticize us for that, but it is the future, and Rio wants to be a reference for the world as a cryptocurrency-friendly city, like Miami or Zug, in Switzerland," Economic Development Secretary Chicão Bulhões told Coin Desk.

Bulhões mentioned that he thinks that Rio can become similar to Miami in this regard. Miami released its token that essentially allows the city to crowdfund money to put towards the infrastructure of the City and also rewards those individuals who do so.

Bulhões believes that the announcement of how the treasury will be handling its reserves was positive and generated enthusiasm among the local people. The consensus in the country; however, is that the people are a little concerned with cryptocurrencies.

Just recently the police came down on a pyramid scheme that, of course, involved cryptocurrencies. These crackdowns are not surprising as they are happening in every country. The regulations surrounding cryptocurrencies are non-existent and people that know what they are doing can commit fraudulent activities very easily and without any reprimand.

To further incentivize and reward people of the city for supporting cryptocurrencies in the country there will be discounts for tax payments that are made in Bitcoin. For something like this to be fully adopted, cryptocurrencies will have to be perceived by people as what it is and not what the media has made them seem to be (a black market pawn). Brazil, Miami, New York, El Salvador are all doing something that could greatly benefit their jurisdictions in the future. Not to mention that they are getting ahead of the curve by starting before most of the world.