Bitcoin joins conversation in German parliament
With the kickoff event ‘Bitcoin im Bundestag’, Bitcoin entered German political discourse. Roman Reher from Blocktrainer, the largest Bitcoin YouTube channel in the German-speaking world, and Kristian Kläger, CEO and founder of terahash.energy GmbH, gave two powerful introductory presentations to the German Parliament. Since German politicians still primarily associate Bitcoin with criminal activity, money laundering and climate damage, the goal was to foster a better understanding of the unique opportunities offered by Bitcoin.
Privacy was paramount in launching the event. Given that Bitcoin remains a complex topic in German politics, ensuring complete privacy for attending lawmakers and their staff was important to avoid them facing a potential rebuke from party leaders. This event was a success with external visitors also attending. Since lawmakers preferred the back seats on the main floor, regular visitors ended up taking the front seats. Overall, the event was a huge success and more Bitcoin events are underway in the Bundestag. Although cameras weren’t allowed during the main event, we were able to capture select comments for them in a few exclusive moments afterwards.
Joana Cotar is the founder of the ‘Bitcoin im Bundestag’ initiative. As an independent member of parliament, she enjoys the privilege of putting Bitcoin on the agenda, for example during debates on the introduction of a digital euro. As a party member, this would have been impossible.
But her former membership in the right-wing AfD also presents a challenge. There is a strong mechanism of guilt by association in German politics and no party wants to cooperate with the AfD. This created a political vacuum and led to debate within the Berlin Bitcoin community. According to her, it’s a good idea to remind yourself that Bitcoin is apolitical, uncensorable, free money, and even your worst enemy can use it.
Bitcoin is also a bottom-up movement in the German parliament, and according to Joana Cotar, MP staff play an important role in getting the topic on the agenda. They work long hours with members of the Bundestag and are often consciously encouraged by German lawmakers to explore new topics.
In the following interview, Joana Cotar provides unprecedented insight into the workings of German politics. She discusses bank lobbyists’ unfettered access to the German parliament and their strong influence on lawmakers, and calls for opposition to the issuance of Bitcoin fiat currency, allowing self-storage, promoting sustainable Bitcoin mining, and the adoption of digital technologies. Clearly state the same specific request. Euro.
This is a guest post by Daniel van Heel. The opinions expressed are solely personal and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
