Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes announced Thursday that Brazil's second most populous city is going to put 1% of the city's treasury funds into Bitcoin, the world's largest cryptocurrency.
On Friday, Rio de Janeiro will publish a decree to establish a working group on Bitcoin investing.
Details about how and when the city plans to add Bitcoin to its coffers remain scant.
If Paes moves forward with the plan, Rio de Janeiro will be Brazil's first country to add Bitcoin to its balance sheet.
Paes dropped the news while speaking next to Miami Mayor Francis Suarez at a panel discussion that was part of Rio Innovation Week.
He lauded Suarez's continued efforts to transform Miami into a Bitcoin mecca.
In November, Suarez announced his plan to distribute Bitcoin yield to the city's residents from Miami Coin. He also volunteered to take a paycheck in the flagship cryptocurrency, inspiring some other U.S. mayors, including New York City's Eric Adams, to follow suit.
Paes sees Rio de Janeiro becoming the cryptocurrency capital of Brazil:
Rio de Janeiro has everything it takes to become the tech capital of South America.
Alex DovbnyaBrazilians support making Bitcoin legal tender
El Salvador became the world's first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender last September. President Nayib Bukele recently predicted that two more countries would adopt Bitcoin as legal tender by the end of 2022.
As reported by U.Today, more than half of Brazilians were in favor of following El Salvador's example.
In October, reports of Brazil making Bitcoin legal tender started making the rounds on social media, but they were inaccurate.
Vladislav Sopov
Dan Burgin
U.Today Editorial Team