Belo Horizonte Wants To Become The Bitcoin Capital Of Brazil

• Belo Horizonte passed a preliminary bill to allow Bitcoin for paying taxes and encourage merchant adoption across the city.
• Brazil is expanding crypto integration through NFT-based court summons, futures contracts, and upcoming stablecoin regulations.

The city government of Belo Horizonte in Brazil seems to be keeping up with the crypto adoption trend. They recently passed the initial phase of a bill that aims to make the city a “Bitcoin Capital.” The bill will allow residents to pay taxes and city fees using Bitcoin.

But not only that, but businesses will also be given incentives to accept BTC as a means of payment. If fully approved, this could be the boldest move ever made by a major Brazilian city regarding crypto.

Belo Horizonte, Brazil, has taken a first step toward becoming the “Bitcoin Capital.”

A new bill passed in a preliminary vote would let residents pay city taxes and fees using BTC and encourage local businesses to accept crypto. pic.twitter.com/4ROd7bhKmd

— Satoshi Club (@esatoshiclub) May 10, 2025

City Council Divided on Bitcoin Vision

Furthermore, this plan is not just about adopting Bitcoin to pay taxes. The city government also wants to promote digital literacy through crypto training for the community. There is a modern yet revolutionary touch, as if they want to prove that the city can be a worthy digital economy hub.

Still, some council members disagree. Some of them, particularly those from the Workers’ Party, voiced worries about the legal risks and volatility of Bitcoin. They underlined the lack of regulation and state-guaranteed value for Bitcoin as well as the reality that it has none.

Conversely, advocates like Vile Santos view Bitcoin as a tool to draw tech-based companies to the city and a sign of financial freedom.

Brazil Pushes Ahead With Crypto Integration

Belo Horizonte’s move seems to be just one small part of a much bigger picture. Brazil as a whole is moving towards clearer regulation and adoption of crypto. The CNF previously reported that the Brazilian Court had approved the use of NFTs as a medium for court summonses in a crypto fraud case.

The NFTs were sent directly to the Bitcoin wallets of defendants involved in the BWA Brazil bankruptcy case. Just imagine if a court in Indonesia used NFTs to summon defendants—it might seem like a movie scene, but in Brazil, it’s a reality.

Then, there are also developments from the Brazilian Stock Exchange (B3), which will launch futures contracts for Ethereum and Solana on June 16, 2025. Each contract is priced in US dollars and follows the Nasdaq index.

For ETH, every contract equals 0.25 ETH; the SOL contract is valued 5 SOL. Not content with that, they reduced the size of the Bitcoin futures contract from 0.1 BTC to 0.01 BTC. They want to enable regular investors more involvement.

Last month, local fintech company Meliuz also didn’t want to be left behind. They announced plans to make Bitcoin a key strategic asset on their balance sheet. A shareholders meeting in early May will determine whether Bitcoin will actually be part of the company’s treasury.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Brazil has also spoken out. Its head, Roberto Campos Neto, said that they are drafting regulations for stablecoins and asset tokenization. The target is 2025. The reason? The increasing use of stablecoins in Brazil, which are often used to avoid taxes or activities outside official channels.