Reports have emerged of a new pro-crypto bill in Brazil that would allow workers to be paid in cryptocurrencies.
The new bill was proposed by Luizão Goulart, a member of the Chamber of Deputies of Brazil, and would enable employees to request payments in crypto instead of fiat. According to the English translation, the proposal would be entirely voluntary for workers and would not allow employers to force staff to be paid in crypto. While unthinkable just a few years ago, the increasing global adoption of cryptocurrencies now makes measures such as this a logical next step, especially in places with weak currencies or cash shortages. If Brazil’s recent ‘Bitcoin Bill’ left crypto investors underwhelmed, this latest proposal looks set to finally give a legal status and use case to cryptocurrencies in the country, and if passed by the Chamber it could become law by early 2022.
Brazil’s ‘Bitcoin Bill’
There were widespread reports in October that Brazil was on the verge of following in the footsteps of El Salvador by making Bitcoin legal tender. Cold water has since been poured on these claims, with a number or articles denying that this was ever the intention. What the bill does do is define ‘virtual assets’ as a property class and start to establish a regulatory framework around them, particularly in regards to entities and individuals offering trading or digital asset custody services. Rather than making Bitcoin legal tender in the country, something lawmakers have denied was ever the plan, the Bill aims to offer increased protection to investors in this nascent asset class and increase punishments for bad actors. Whilst not as pro-crypto as was initially reported, we should still welcome regulatory clarity as a necessary first step towards mainstream and institutional investment in digital assets.
Could Australian Workers Expect Crypto Payments in the Future?
Australians are also hoping for regulatory clarity regarding crypto assets and lawmakers have hinted that this could come as soon as 2022, creating optimism that a more progressive regulatory regime may be on the cards. For now though it seems that ordinary Aussies are one step ahead of their government, with recent reports showing that nearly one in five Australians now own crypto, making it the country with the third highest crypto adoption rate in the world.
With this in mind, it is not surprising at all to witness a growing demand for wages to be paid in crypto, especially in pioneering digital industries like crypto itself. Following the pandemic we have seen the acceleration of new and more flexible working options across the economy as a whole, and demand for new and more flexible payment methods is following hot on its heels. The crypto industry has always led the way in remote working practices; will it now lead the way in giving workers the option to be paid for their work outside of the international fiat currency regime?
