Brazil’s President, Jair Bolsonaro, has come out publicly in opposition

to bitcoin.
In an interview aired on national television, the Brazilian president commented
on cryptocurrency being used to bank indigenous people in Brazil. During a
conversation centered on the challenges of his new presidency, Bolsonaro
talked about projects created by his predecessor’s administration. One of the
efforts was a $11.5 million project that aimed to create an “indigenous
cryptocurrency”.
“We are cutting expenses. We were about to use 40 million Reales to teach
natives to use bitcoin,” he said. In fact, Bolsonaro said, he doesn’t even know
what bitcoin is.
“I don’t know,” he said. “Is it a coin?”
The National Indian Foundation (Funai) and the Fluminense Federal
University (UFF) created the project in order help bank Brazil’s indigenous
people. The country’s Ministry of Human Rights, Family and Women vetoed it
in January.
The shutdown of the cryptocurrency project was one of the first actions taken
by Bolsonaro’s administration. This is the first time the leader commented
about bitcoin in public although Brazil is one of the most active countries
in Latin America’s blockchain sphere.
Not So Far From Crypto
Despite the president’s initial ignorance of bitcoin, the growing cryptocurrency
and blockchain ecosystem in Brazil is impossible to ignore.
Bolsonaro’s administration itself also showed certain preferences for
blockchain. Back in February, the leader appointed an economist involved in
blockchain and cryptocurrency to run the Central Bank of Brazil.
Currently, Brazil is one of the biggest cryptocurrency markets in Latin America
and has the highest bitcoin trading volume in all the region, reaching nearly
100,000 BTC in April alone.
This is not the first time the Brazilian leader has been connected with
blockchain. Bolsonaro’s ideology inspired a group of supporters to create
an alt-right cryptocurrency named after him, the Bolsocoin, whose apparent
goal is to “get mainstream attention and rages [sic] antifa and feminist scum.”

Former US Senator, neologism, and noted Catholic, Rick Santorum, has come
out in support of Cathio, a for-profit organization that will “provide efficient,
secure, and transparent movement of funds within the Catholic world.”
From a release:
“Cathio’s platform is designed to enable all sectors of the Catholic economy to
benefit from lower costs and transparent payments,” said Cathio CEO
Matthew Marcolini.

Former Ambassador to the Holy See and Cathio Advisor Jim Nicholson
stated, “The Church is living in a time of great challenges with the laity asking,
‘What can we do?’ Well, Cathio is a lay initiative that not only strives to save
the Church money, but positions it to provide greater transparency of financial
transactions and the connectivity of people of good will with good works.”

It should be noted that Santorum is the CEO’s father-in-law – a bit of nepotism

that can be avoided in the future if Cathio’s board were to take a vow of
chastity – and that the board features Cameron Chell, chairman
of ICOx Innovations. Chell and his team brought us the exciting and
successful KodakCoin.
I am very excited to be part of a company dedicated to helping the Catholic
Church connect with younger believers. https://t.co/OZTHPrJuyh
— Rick Santorum (@RickSantorum) May 31, 2019
Details of this product are slim but it looks to be a traditional fintech play with a
blockchain chaser. It’s also apparently a ploy to get kids excited about Church.

“Millennials don’t carry cash, they date on apps and watch on-demand
entertainment. We have to be there, we have to learn from successful tech
companies, and we have to provide a universal solution that makes it easy for
younger generations to engage with the Church,” wrote Santorum.