The Belo Horizonte City Council has approved, in the first round, Bill 124/2025, which declares the city the "Bitcoin Capital."
Authored by councilman Vile Santos, the proposal is symbolic and does not grant the capital of Minas Gerais any legal prerogative over Bitcoin, nor does it alter the regulation of the national financial system.
The title, therefore, is cultural and represents the recognition of the city as a center of innovation and economic freedom.
It is important to reinforce that the proposal has no legal effect on Bitcoin and does not grant the city any formal authority over the digital currency.
It is a cultural recognition and serves as an institutional framework for public policies that favor the development of the cryptocurrency sector in the city.
Symbolic Title
According to the technical opinions of the Council’s Legislation and Justice, Budget, and Education committees, the project is in full compliance with the Federal Constitution and current legislation, especially Federal Law 14.478/2022, which regulates virtual assets in the country.
As highlighted by parliamentarians, the project does not infringe on the powers of the Union, which is responsible for regulating the financial system, but rather uses municipal autonomy to value issues of local interest.
"The project is legal, constitutional, and regimental, and follows the example of other municipal laws that attribute honorary titles to the city, such as the ‘Capital of Soul’," emphasizes the opinion of the Legislation and Justice Committee.
The Budget and Finance Committee was also in favor, pointing out that the project does not create public expenses or financial obligations.
It is a strategic and institutional action, without direct fiscal impact, but with the potential to attract private investments, foster innovation tourism, and enhance the local entrepreneurial ecosystem.
How Belo Horizonte can foster Bitcoin
Although the title does not transform BH into the global capital of Bitcoin in technical or legal terms, it serves as an institutional framework for public policies that favor the development of the cryptocurrency sector.
Here are some of the main points that can be boosted:
1. Financial education and digital inclusion
With the backing of the title, the city can encourage actions aimed at financial literacy of the population, promoting understanding of what Bitcoin is, how it works, and what are the risks and opportunities of the cryptocurrency market.
This can occur through partnerships with schools, universities, and technology centers.
2. Support for entrepreneurship and innovation
The proposal also paves the way for the government to encourage startups and blockchain-based projects, offering a more favorable institutional environment for innovation.
With this, Belo Horizonte can stand out as a center of reference in the sector, attracting companies and talents interested in developing solutions focused on financial freedom and decentralization.
3. Attraction of events and investments
By positioning itself as the "Bitcoin Capital," BH can host congresses, conferences, and meetings linked to the Web3 universe, decentralized finance (DeFi), and emerging technologies.
These events help to boost the local economy, stimulating the hotel sector, restaurants, services, and generating international visibility for the city.
4. Promotion of research and development
The proposal also provides for incentives for academic and technical research around the crypto economy, with support for local initiatives that study the impact of blockchain technology in areas such as public administration, urban mobility, health, and education.
Proud Community
The approval of the title is, above all, a form of recognition. It does not confer regulatory power or authority over Bitcoin, which remains a decentralized network, without control of governments or institutions.
However, it carries symbolic value for advocates of monetary freedom and puts BH in the spotlight in the race of cities seeking to lead the debate about the future of money.
"Bitcoin is more than a digital currency. It is a global movement for freedom. And Belo Horizonte is proud to be part of this advancement," said the author of the project during the voting session.
The project still needs to be voted on in the second round in the Council plenary before being sanctioned.
If approved, BH will officially join the list of cities that embrace the future of the digital economy—with a title that, although symbolic, can generate concrete impacts on the mindset, business, and global positioning of the capital of Minas Gerais.
What has Belo Horizonte already done?
The importance of Belo Horizonte to the Bitcoin ecosystem in Brazil is historical—being the city the birthplace of fundamental milestones for the development of culture, education, and the crypto market in the country.
Over the years, BH has consolidated itself as one of the main national references in the sector, both for business innovation and for community activism around Bitcoin.
- Birthplace of the first Bitcoin exchanges
Belo Horizonte hosted the founding of two of the first Bitcoin exchanges in Brazil: BitcoinToYou, created in 2012, and Mercado Bitcoin, launched in 2013.
Both were pioneers in the negotiation of BTC in reais, helping to introduce thousands of Brazilians to the universe of cryptocurrencies.
- First Brazilian conference on Bitcoin
It was in BH that the first national Bitcoin conference took place, still in 2013, at the Ouro Minas hotel, bringing together enthusiasts, developers, and investors at a time when the topic was still unknown to most of the population.
- Pioneering in the commercial use of Bitcoin
The city also saw the first major Brazilian company adopt Bitcoin as a store of value: Méliuz, founded in BH, which officially announced the purchase of Bitcoin as part of its corporate strategy.
- First Bitcoin transaction on the Moon
BH is also the point of origin of a milestone in the Brazilian crypto universe: The bitcoiners, developers, and amateur radio enthusiasts, Márcio Gandra, Rafael Silveira, Narcélio Filho, André Alvarenga (Broker Cripto) and Paulo Jr. carried out a very unusual experiment.
They retransmitted, in Morse code, the hexadecimal of a PSBT file, from a multi-signed Bitcoin transaction, to be signed in another state of the country and replicated in the network to be mined.
Until then, it would be just a common long-distance radio transmission, if it weren’t for one particularity: the data having bounced off the lunar surface and being refracted back to earth. Technique known in amateur radio as E.M.E (Earth – Moon – Earth) or "Moon Bounce".
- Translation of the Bitcoin.org website into Portuguese
People from Belo Horizonte were also part of the first official translation of the Bitcoin.org website into Brazilian Portuguese, facilitating access to the technology for millions of speakers of the language.
- Livecoins: the largest Bitcoin website in the country
Created in 2017 and based in Belo Horizonte, Livecoins quickly became the main information channel about Bitcoin and crypto economics in Brazil, reaching millions of readers and consolidating the capital of Minas Gerais as a reference in specialized media on the topic.
