A lawmaker in Germany is not only strongly opposed to the digital euro but is proposing a better solution for a financial revolution in the country: Bitcoin.
Joana Cotar, a member of the German Bundestag — the nation’s federal parliament — has recently proposed groundbreaking legislation to make Bitcoin legal tender in the country.
German Lawmaker Pushes To Make Bitcoin Legal Form Of Currency
Bitcoin could soon be recognized as legal tender in Germany, thereby requiring businesses and individuals to accept it as a valid form of payment. This is after parliamentarian Joana Cotar shared her plan to reshape economic interactions in Germany by adopting Bitcoin as a legal tender.
Cotar, a member of the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, revealed during a recent interview that she would lead a “preliminary examination” to establish a legal and regulatory framework that would formally make Bitcoin legal tender alongside the Euro. Her approach seeks to balance the freedom aspects of Bitcoin with the need to address possible risks including money laundering, tax evasion, and other unlawful activities often associated with the usage of the world’s biggest cryptocurrency.
To push her cause within the German Bundestag, Cotar has created the “Bitcoin in Bundestag” initiative aimed at educating her parliamentary colleagues about the numerous benefits of BTC and thus fostering more informed legislative decisions. The program underscores the significance of privacy protection while avoiding extreme restrictions that might hamper innovation.
Her proposal entails accepting Bitcoin for the payment of taxes, fees, and other dues as well as utilizing BTC mining to stabilize the power grid.
Notably, the parliamentarian’s initiative is only focused on Bitcoin as she sees it as separate from the rest of the cryptocurrencies in the market. Cotar believes in the unique technological attributes of Bitcoin and its importance to society, declaring: “My initiative is Bitcoin only.”
"Nobody needs the digital euro,” says Member of Germany’s Parliament while wearing a #Bitcoin T-shirt. pic.twitter.com/Rw4qdeKE0h
— Bitcoin Archive (@BTC_Archive) November 11, 2023
If Cotar’s proposal goes through, it could position Germany as a leader in decentralized digital currency integration, likely encouraging other countries to follow in its Bitcoin footsteps.
Digital Euro Pushback
Perhaps an interesting aspect of Joana Cotar’s initiative is her opposition to the proposed European central bank digital currency (CBDC), also known as the digital euro. According to the pro-Bitcoin lawmaker, the top crypto’s decentralized nature provides more financial freedom and privacy.
She raised red flags about the potential China-style state snooping and authoritarianism that a putative central bank digital currency could encourage.
For its part, the European Central Bank (ECB), helmed by President Christine Lagarde, has taken the position to create a digital euro. The central bank has previously detailed potential benefits to a CBDC, providing high privacy and real-time payment settlements.
The ECB has moved its digital euro project to a preparation phase. The two-year phase will be used to complete a digital euro rulebook, select providers to design a CBDC platform, and carry out additional testing.
