Paying a salary in crypto is not yet very common. It is very easy to buy crypto yourself with your withdrawn euros. Yet there are people who do that. A good example of this is Christophe de Beukelar, an MEP. In 2022, he was paid in Bitcoin (BTC) by the European Union for one year.
A political statement
Although 2022 was not a good year for the price of Bitcoin, De Beukelaere said he was not worried about it. The action was a political one in which he attempted to draw European attention to Bitcoin. He said this in an interview with Trends earlier this month.
“It wasn’t a financial investment, it was a statement. I wanted to sound the alarm bells: Belgium and Europe in general should not close their eyes to the financial revolution that is underway.”
The Belgian says Europe must embrace crypto. The industry offers great opportunities. He fears a repeat of the 1990s. Then the Internet came into being. However, Europe viewed it as a dangerous technology and companies in the industry sought refuge in other parts of the world. Europe has missed the boat. Today, De Beukelaere sees a repetition of the same pattern in the crypto industry.
According to the politician, Bitcoin is superior to gold and the euro. For example, sending Bitcoin is much easier than sending gold or euros to the other side of the world. It is also not necessary to involve an intermediary.
De Beukelaere imagines a financial world in which Bitcoin plays a central role. This future is still a long way off, but the first steps towards this future have already been taken with the launch of Bitcoin spot ETFs and the increasing role of large financial institutions such as Blackrock.
The current financial system is broken
The politician criticizes the current financial system, which is characterized by powerful central banks. For example, he says that the European Central Bank has made big mistakes.
“The European Central Bank has printed too much money in recent years and inflation is partly related to this. The financial world would do well to completely rethink itself. A few large organizations and influential people have far too much influence over the monetary system.”
De Beukelaere would like to devote himself to financial education in the near future. He thinks that people don’t know enough about financial topics. And that is something that needs to change.
Don’t want to miss any more important crypto news? Then follow our brand new WhatsApp channel. Here we keep you up to date on the most important crypto news 7 days a week.
