Seminole County tax collector's office to accept bitcoin as payment

SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Seminole County residents will soon be able to use bitcoin to pay for their bills to their county tax collector’s office.

Bitcoin and bitcoin cash will be accepted this summer, according to a news release Monday from tax collector Joel Greenberg.

Greenberg said he’s making the change because paying taxes by credit or debit cards requires a third-party processor with fees. Bitcoin will help eliminate most of the fees while improving payment accuracy, transparency and efficiency, according to a news release.

“We live in a world where technology has made access to services on-demand, with same-day delivery and the expectation of highly efficient customer service and we should expect the same from our government,” Greenberg said.

People will be able to pay property taxes, driver's license and ID card fees and for tags and titles using BitPay.

“The aim of my tenure in office is to make our customer experience faster, smarter and more efficient, and to bring government services from the 18th century into the 21st century, and one way is the addition of cryptocurrency to our payment options," said Greenberg.

“BitPay was started because we recognized the potential for blockchain to revolutionize the financial industry, making payments faster, more secure and less expensive on a global scale,” said Jeremie Beaudry, head of compliance at BitPay.

“With the Seminole County tax collector’s office, we have engaged our first government agency to accept bitcoin and bitcoin cash by making it easy and seamless for them," he added.

Cox Media Group