Rio de Janeiro wants to become the new Brazilian crypto center. Since January 2022, the city has hosted major events in the crypto ecosystem. Cariocas will not yet have its own cryptocurrency.
In January this year, Mayor Eduardo Paes published Rio Decree No. 50,145/22, which created the Crypto Rio Working Group. The document details the plans of the municipality that intends to become the new Brazilian crypto hub was called.
The city already has the Start Ups Factory, in Porto Maravalley, in the port region of the city, which houses several ideas with the new emerging and innovative technologies of the entire crypto ecosystem.
The Municipal Secretariat of Finance and Planning (SMFP), Municipal Secretariat of Economic Development, Innovation and Simplification (SMDEIS), Invest Rio, as well as other organizations, participated in the studies, which aimed at planning the digital currency market, means of payment, and Blockchain technologies for Rio de Janeiro.
The group’s objectives include boosting the local economy, optimizing the city’s financial and fiscal instruments, as well as generating income for the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro, creating a legacy for the Marvelous City, and solving the great challenges of the digital world with greater access to the crypto ecosystem for all interested citizens and companies.
Interview with CEO of Invest Rio: Major Highlights
In an interview, the CEO of Invest Rio, Rodrigo Stallone, talked about the paths that the Municipality of the Marvelous City intends to take as the new center of crypto innovation in Brazil. Invest Rio is the investment promotion and attraction agency of the city of Rio de Janeiro and actively participated in the Working Group called Crypto Rio.
The municipality intends to seek advantage now and in the future, with integrity, diligence, and transparency. How does the city plan to do this?
“The City Council will always seek the best technologies to be increasingly transparent. As of today, we have already digitized most of the processes and we understand that advancing in this digitization through Blockchain technology will make everything even clearer.”
What kind of actions does the city plan to announce to attract the global crypto ecosystem? Will there be tax exemptions for companies, for example, in addition to the IPTU and the port of Maravalley?
“Everything is being studied with the Treasury and with the PGM, we cannot take any initiative that is not from these organizations. In addition, the fact that we are a City Council that is looking for these solutions already shows the market that we are open to conversations.”
What about Crypto Rio listed on the City Coins platform? Any chance of the city council getting involved with the platform like the mayors of Miami and NY did? Use cryptocurrencies for the benefit of the city?
“There is, but we’re not looking at that specific project right now.”
And why doesn’t the city council issue its own crypto?
“It is important to weigh the pros and cons. The city has to think of the whole and, therefore, we do not want to issue any currency that could benefit some to the detriment of others. If we somehow realize that this is beneficial for the people of Rio, it will certainly happen. For the rest, there are so many alternatives in this Web 3.0 market that there will be no shortage of good projects for our citizens.”
By Audy Castaneda
