Buenos Aires Mayor Proposes Bitcoin Tax Payments, CItizens Owning Their Data

Horacio Rodriguez Larreta — the Mayor of Argentina's capital city and chief port Buenos Aires — is looking to have the city adopt cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin BTC/USD, although not as completely as El Salvador.

What Happened: Larreta today gave a virtual presentation explaining the ways in which he wants to optimize the Buenos Aires local government, including allowing for taxes to be paid in Bitcoin and using blockchain to protect citizens' data. The 12-goal program dubbed Buenos Aires+ is largely focused on improving public services through the implementation of modern technologies.

While the plan is to allow tax payments to be made in cryptocurrency, the municipality does not intend to expose itself to their high volatility and will not hold them as part of its public treasury. The local government instead plans to partner with payment processors and wallets to immediately convert the cryptocurrencies it receives into the local fiat currency.

See Also: How to get free crypto

Buenos Aires' mayor said that "citizens must own their information, their documents, because we trust in their capacity, and they have the responsibility to do so." He also explained that "this data flow, which is going to increase exponentially, is going to be protected by blockchain technology, the second transformation."

According to Larreta, the city already digitized nearly 900 different procedures and — to continue this transformation — decentralized technologies will be required.

In a Tuesday Twitter Inc. TWTR thread, he said that citizens "will have access, in a single place, to their information, documentation and personal records, facilitating the management of their procedures, applications and permits." All of this, while blockchain technology will “let users have control over their data.”