After converting his salary into BTC for a year, Brussels parliamentarian Christophe De Beukelaer will carry out a final symbolic transaction at the end of the month. No link to serial disasters that undermine the reputation (and price) of digital assets, he says, determined to help the success of the “crypto revolution”.
” I will receive my 2022 salary in bitcoin », announced to everyone’s surprise Christophe De Beukelaer last January. Convinced that his political role is his responsibility to raise public awareness of societal changes, this young deputy from Brussels intended to make an impression around cryptos. ” We can no longer remain ignorant of this new world! It’s a bit like clinging to the candle as the light bulbs appear “, he insisted, ready to go beyond the simple speech and to propose a concrete action. A way to demonstrate its confidence in these emerging technologies, to urge decision-makers to take a serious interest in them, and to lead citizens to question monetary policy.
Twelve months later, Christophe De Beukelaer remains the only known agent in Europe to collect his entire political salary in bitcoin. And on the next payday, the last payment of 2022, the centrist Belgian deputy will carry out the final symbolic conversion of his remuneration into cryptocurrencies. ” It was planned from the start, I posed for a year this political and not financial act. To defend ideals. Like some people grow a mustache in November to fight prostate cancer. It was a personal investment and not speculative “, he explains to us.
The worst time to invest in bitcoin
The crypto deputy, as we have since liked to call him on social networks, could not choose a worse year to embark on such a political demonstration found himself in the middle of the crypto winter. The bitcoin market has suffered several major shocks, notably in May with the sinking of Terra or last November with the FTX scandal. BTC alone has lost more than half of its value. Which naturally reduced the political salary of Christophe De Beukelaer.
” Without regret ! I remain totally confident and I believe that my political action comes out all the more relevant. It reinforces my convictions to make it a point on the political agenda to demonstrate technological innovation. Because despite these shocks, technology has not failed. Every ten minutes a block was created on Bitcoin. It has remained the strongest computer network in the world “, insists the Brussels parliamentarian.
Factually, it is difficult to invalidate the statements of MP De Beukelaer. The operation of the public Bitcoin blockchain went smoothly: zero emergency restarts, zero hacks or protocol-level bugs. Coin issuance continued strictly according to the rules set by Satoshi Nakamoto… in 2008. Bitcoin remained available to anyone in the world all year round, despite serial crashes, scams and other hacks.
And this, without the intervention of a central organization, a technical service, or a manager, based only on the reliability of cryptography and mathematical predictability.
Absence of public debate and ignorance of political decision-makers
The experiment that Christophe De Beukelaer carried out this year would therefore not have dampened his enthusiasm for new tools such as bitcoin. Neither the scams plaguing the bitcoin industry nor his own financial losses will curb his “ evangelization “, according to him. Because, he says, the support of the crypto ecosystem and citizens sensitive to societal issues has lived up to his act.
” I was led to meet entrepreneurs, crypto actors but also citizens who defend the notions of financial freedom and economic sovereignty. This ecosystem has given me real support. I didn’t feel alone “, evokes the deputy De Beukelaer.
He certainly cannot say the same of the political world, where he criticizes a lack of democratic debate on crypto-related issues. Christophe De Beukelaer stresses, however, that the technologies popularized by crypto-assets could offer solutions to the challenges of our society, such as the risk of a hypersurveillance system which could emerge with a central bank “digital euro”.
” I am appalled at the lack of effort made by politicians to go beyond prejudice. I think I got to the heart of this bitcoin topic. However, not all the anti-crypto standard bearers have taken the time to really study the political and societal issues of technologies. They quickly stop at speculation », Considers the Belgian parliamentarian.
“Crypto Adoption Will Take Longer Than I Thought”
The scale of the obstacles to overcome obviously does not discourage the one who will remain the first (and the last?) MEP in Europe paid in bitcoin. On the other hand, ” I was able to take the measure of the developments still necessary and the adoption will take longer than I thought. Awareness among legislators, leaders and users is slow », concedes Christophe De Beukelaer.
This is even, in the eyes of the parliamentarian, an additional reason to continue his ” political effort in favor of cryptos. Christophe De Beukelaer wants to continue his “ struggle for fair finance by promoting the crypto sector and decentralized finance (DeFi) solutions.
” We see crypto improving the old system, cleaning it up. We believe in healthy competition and in balancing the strengths of each party. The current financial system lacks transparency, accessibility, information sharings”, likes to recall the Brussels deputy.
He is ” urgently to seize tools like bitcoin, warned Christophe De Beukelaer last January. A good resolution that the crypto deputy recommends to us for the new year.
