Rio De Janeiro To Begin Accepting Taxes in Bitcoin in 2023

Key Insights:

• Starting 2023, citizens can pay real estate taxes in Bitcoin in Rio de Janeiro.
• The city will also expand the use of crypto to stimulate arts, culture, and tourism.
• Bitcoin’s reaction to this news enabled it to cross $47k.

The decision was announced during the Cryptoactivity Carioca event, during which the Secretaries of Finance and Planning and Economic Development, Innovation and Simplification, Pedro Paulo and Chicão Bulhões, also made proposals to develop a market for crypto in the city.

Rio Goes Crypto

Taking the first step in accepting the world of crypto, Rio de Janeiro became the first city in Brazil to allow its citizens to pay taxes in crypto. This will enable Rio to be at the forefront of the crypto adoption movement.

To facilitate the same, companies will be hired that specialize in cryptocurrency conversion. Through them, the taxes received in digital assets will be changed back into fiat (Brazillian Real), enabling the City Hall to receive 100% of the entire taxes.

Commenting on this move, mayor Eduardo Peas stated,

“Our effort here is to make it clear that in the city of Rio we have official initiatives that recognize this market. Now those who invest in cryptocurrency and live in the city of Rio will be able to spend this asset here paying official tax in the city of Rio. And we will move forward in this fast.”

While Rio is the first city in Brazil to do so, it is not the first city in the world. Last month, FXEmpire had reported on the announcement by the Governor of the state of Colorado declaring that the state would begin accepting cryptocurrency for the payment of taxes by this summer.

Following him, the State Senator of California also proposed a bill stating the state would accept payments in crypto for the provision of government services.

But Brazil intends on expanding the use of crypto beyond just taxes and payments. The city plans on integrating all aspects of crypto to further itself. Secretary Pedro Paulo stated,

“Going further, we will use these crypto assets to stimulate the arts, culture, and tourism, through NFTs, and create a sound and responsible governance policy to evaluate the realization of crypto investments.”

Safe to say that if implemented, the recent growth of the crypto market could allure people into using it. 

Bitcoin on the Charts

Speaking about the recent growth, today marked a great moment of relief for many crypto investors since Bitcoin finally retraced its movement to the January highs of $47k. Trading at $47,094, BTC recovered 99% of the losses faced since the beginning of this year due to the bearishness imbued by the market.

But, with the 50 and 100-day SMAs turned back into support and the price action inching closer to doing the same with the 200-day SMA, the king coin might be back at $50k soon.