Reports were rife this week that Brazil’s government was considering a legislative bill to pay Brazilian workers in Bitcoin.
When this information first came up on Livecoins, the crypto news site reported that “Bitcoin will be currency in Brazil soon.” This statement then gained traction on Twitter through the BTC Archive.
The string of tweets went on to say,
“If this law is approved in Brazil, part of the workers’ remuneration could be paid in Bitcoin, if they chose this option.”
This news sent the number of bitcoin trades over the roof, earlier in the week. So is it true? Is Brazil considering making Bitcoin legal tender?
Unfortunately, these reports may not be as accurate as they seem. If anything, what Ribeiro said is that people in Brazil would soon be able to use bitcoin for daily purchases. This statement did in no way imply that the crypto currency would become Brazil’s formal currency. “…with this asset you will be able to buy a house, a car, go to McDonald’s to buy a hamburger, it will be a currency in the country as it happened in other countries,” Ribeiro stated in Livecoins.
What Does Brazil’s Bitcoin Bill Propose?
Saori Honorato, has since taken it in his stride to try and tame the fires caused by this misinterpreted statement. The Portal do Bitcoin journalist took to Twitter saying Ribeiro was expressing his personal opinion. According to Honorato, this wasn’t an affirmation that the bill will make bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency in Brazil legal tender.
Contrary to the rumours circulating online, Brazil’s ‘Bitcoin bill’ is a proposal for the regulation of cryptocurrencies. In fact the legalization of Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency doesn’t appear anywhere in the bill. Brazil’s Central Bank president Roberto Campos Neto actually stated that his institution will first focus on regulating cryptocurrencies as an investment before they even consider them as a means of payment.
This contentious crypto bill was Ribeiro’s brainchild in 2015 and besides regulating crypto it proposes increased penalties on pyramid schemes. For the bill to become law, it needs the approval of deputies and the Senate.
For now, the bill seems to have been taken completely out of context. What it truly stands for is the introduction of a system that would allow better monitoring of cryptocurrency trade. It also wants to prevent tax avoidance and fraud.