If you’re a bitcoin lover and you own real estate in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, there’s a good chance you’re feeling pretty lucky right about now. The city government has announced that those who own real estate in Rio de Janeiro can pay their real estate taxes with bitcoin and other forms of crypto.
Rio de Janeiro Is Pushing Crypto Forward
The move is proof, once again, that Latin America and crypto appear to go hand in hand. Several countries in that neck of the woods, over the past few years, have done quite a bit to not only legalize crypto but push for higher usage, and now Rio de Janeiro is taking a huge step forward in making the initial goals of digital currency become realities.
While bitcoin and many of its altcoin cousins have taken on very speculative shapes over the past few years, it’s easy to forget that a lot of these assets were initially designed to be used for purchasing goods and services. They were designed to serve as payment methods that would push checks, credit cards, and fiat currencies to the side, but this has been a slow journey given how volatile they are. Many businesses and institutions, as a result, are reluctant to say “yes” when it comes to accepting crypto payments, and to a certain extent, we can understand why.
Consider the following scenario: a person walks into a business and purchases $50 worth of items with bitcoin. For one reason or another, the organization does not convert the BTC into fiat right away. 24 hours go by, and the price of bitcoin drops, causing that $50 to turn into $40. While the customer gets to keep everything they bought, the company has lost money. Is this fair? Not everyone thinks so.
Thanks to Rio de Janeiro and its regulators, the push for crypto payments just got a lot stronger. The acceptance of crypto for real estate taxes is occurring through a joint effort between Binance – the largest and most popular digital currency exchange in the world – and Eduardo Paes, the mayor of the city. In an interview, the chief executive officer of Binance Changpeng Zhao explained:
He (Mayor Paes) has done his share and we are doing ours.
Binance Will Help Out
City officials also took the time to chime in, claiming:
To facilitate the operation, the municipality will contract with firms that specialize in converting cryptocurrency to reais. In this manner, city hall will receive the whole amount in money.
Rio de Janeiro, despite its good intentions, still has quite a way to go if it’s going to compete with other Latin American nations such as El Salvador, which has done all it can to put bitcoin on the map. The country declared BTC legal tender last September and hasn’t looked back.
