Not Taking the Time to Learn About BTC Could Be ‘Europe’s Biggest Risk’, Per Belgian MP

De Beukelaer was the first European politician to convert his entire salary in 2022 while he puts his entire 5,500 monthly salary into Bitcoin on the first of every month. This move was in hope to raise awareness about Bitcoin and alternative monetary models, financial education and to get people talking. 

De Beukelaer foresees a future in which Bitcoin plays a role as a “counterpart to the traditional financial world.” He first got into Bitcoin and blockchain in 2017 and hopes others follow suit and “go down the rabbit hole.” De Beukelaer added. He believes the issue is time. Politicians have a busy schedule running day-to-day administrations of cities and countries, so they do not focus on the future of technology and improvements to the monetary policy. To De Beukelaer, bitcoin is the answer over other cryptocurrencies such as ethereum.

The lack of awareness in Europe is troubling to the Brussels Minister and said that if Europe does not do the work to understand the space, then “Asia [or] the U.S. will decide everything.”