- The local government of La Molina considers Bitcoin an “inevitable” and necessary form of payment.
- Mayor Álvaro Paz de La Barra believes that the option to pay taxes with crypto will cut tax evasion.
- Local authorities recommend the use of wallets that support the Bitcoin Lightning network.
The mayor of La Molina, in Lima, Peru, has launched a training program to promote the use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. About ten restaurants have already joined the program, dubbed ‘MoliCoin’ and other businesses in the area are expected to follow suit soon.
Mayor Álvaro Paz de la Barra considers it a very important objective to bring digital assets closer to society.
“We strongly believe in this new way of paying for goods and services around the world. We will continue to push innovations as a local government, for La Molina and Peru, it deserves to be a focus of innovation at the Latin American level,” he said in a statement. The MoliCoin program seeks to provide “answers on how restaurants and business can accept payments in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, along with the correct choice and use of wallet and various pieces of advice on the characteristics of Blockchain technology.”
For the launch, the mayor's office is recommending that taxpayers and businesses in the capital district become familiar with "the use of Wallets that are integrated with the Lightning Network (LN), which reduces usage costs and improves transaction speed." Through the program, the government of La Molina seeks to prevent tax evasion. In an interview broadcast by local channel ‘Willax Television’, the mayor said that “physical currency generates corruption” while “digital currency does not.” He added that the payment of taxes with bitcoins through digital wallets will serve to cut tax evasion.
Cryptocurrencies Are “a Powerful Strategy”
Paz de la Barra anticipates that some 500 commercial establishments in La Molina will have joined the program by the end of this year. At this time, there are 10 companies that accept payment for goods and services in crypto.
"We are a local government with innovative proposals, we see cryptocurrencies as a powerful strategy," emphasized the Mayor's Manager of Economic Development and Private Investment Jorge Reátegui Reátegui. He underlined that "the adoption of cryptocurrencies as a form of payment will be inevitable" and has thus promised to continue promoting decentralized technology, a policy to which the entire government team is committed.
Why You Should Care
- Other cities like Rio de Janeiro in Brazil will also soon allow tax payments in bitcoins.
The mayor of La Molina joins the initiatives of other mayors in Latin and North America seeking to implement the use of cryptocurrencies. The current mayors of Miami and New York, Francis Suárez and Eric Adams, are also working to promote the use of crypto within their jurisdictions and beyond.
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