Rio de Janeiro appears to be aping into Bitcoin, reportedly looking to allocate 1% of its treasury reserves to the OG crypto.

This would make it the first Brazilian city to follow in both El Salvador’s and the US city of Miami’s footsteps by buying and holding Bitcoin as a store of value.

Speaking during Rio Innovation Week, Mayor Eduardo Paes said that the city, which has a population of almost 7 million, is looking to invest part of its Treasury into BTC, according to local media outlet O Globo.

Rio de Janeiro is one of the the largest economies in Latin America and one of the fastest growing in the world, with almost US$200 billion GDP (gross domestic product). Even with just 1% allocated by its treasury, that would still amount to a significant amount of cash flowing the orange coin’s way. 

The mayor also revealed that the city has created a working group to discuss crypto-related policies and also aims to launch its own cryptocurrency, called “Crypto Rio”.

 

Miami advice

The Rio-centric crypto will apparently take its inspiration from “MiamiCoin“, launched by Miami’s mayor Francis Suarez in August last year – a Bitcoin-project that aims to distribute yield-generating staking profits among the US city’s residents.

And, also taking a leaf from the Miami/Suarez playbook, Paes said that plans are being formulated to give Rio citizens the option of paying taxes using Bitcoin.

“We are going to launch Crypto Rio and invest 1% of the Treasury in cryptocurrency,” said Paes, adding: “Miami and Rio are global cities, attracting people, businesses, and organisations. This international dialogue is essential.”

Suarez was also at the event via video hook-up and spoke to the success of Miami’s crypto policies so far, noting:

“We created a tsunami of opportunity. Many cities in the United States were raising taxes, and we lowered them. We understood that we could be at the forefront of innovation and we invited creators here.”

Mayor Paes additionally hinted at the possibility of offering a 10% discount on various taxes for Rio citizens who pay using Bitcoin.

Miami also has crypto-based tax-reduction plans. “We’re going to be the first city in America to give a Bitcoin yield as a dividend directly to its residents,” Suarez said during an interview with CoinDesk TV in November.

“You could theoretically at one point pay the entire tax revenue of the city and the city could be a city that runs without taxes, which I think would be revolutionary,” added Suarez.

 

 

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