Brazilian lawmaker recommends crypto payment option for workers

As the institutional adoption of cryptocurrencies continues to gain momentum, Luizão Goulart, a member of Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies, has proposed a bill to make crypto payment options available for both public and private sector workers in the country.

If the proposed bill is eventually approved, Brazilian workers would have the option to receive part or the whole of their salaries in cryptocurrencies. Goulart suggested that the proposed system be slowly integrated.

The voluntary nature of Goulart’s proposal is quite different from the approach employed by El Salvador. Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele’s policies mandated all businesses to adopt Bitcoin as a payment option, even though he repeatedly said that using Bitcoin is optional.

Another clause in the bill states that workers and their employers must mutually agree before cryptocurrency payments commence while the employees have the luxury of choosing the percentage of their salary they want to receive in crypto.

The limits of the percentage of payment (remuneration) in cryptocurrencies will be of the worker’s free choice. Any imposition by the employer will be prohibited.

Goulart further explained that integration is necessary for what he referred to as “the fourth digital revolution.” He highlighted the evolution of finance from a barter system to fiat currencies to digital assets, asserting that Bitcoin is the “antithesis of the current global financial system.”

While emphasizing the importance of his proposal, Goulart said that “it is only up to us to adapt, reinvent and progress along this wonderful path of Modernity in order to establish a Global Economy that facilitates the daily lives of citizens and, above all, provides a good quality of life for all.”

The bill will help resolve the cash problem of the federal, state, and municipal governments if signed into law, and it will go into effect 90 days from the date it is approved.

In other news, 48% of the respondents from a recent survey conducted in Brazil revealed that they were in support of adopting Bitcoin as the official currency.

There has been speculation surrounding the regulation of Bitcoin in Brazil for a few weeks now. The Chamber of Deputies’ Special Committee recently approved Bitcoin regulation, causing many to believe that the country would emulate El Salvador and make Bitcoin legal tender.

However, the bill does not intend to legalize Bitcoin in Brazil. The Brazilian “virtual asset” bill aims to define virtual assets and virtual asset services providers and also increase investor protection by increasing regulatory policies.

The Central Bank of Brazil has also stated that it is more interested in developing its own CBDC rather than making Bitcoin legal tender in the country.