Dr. Stefan Berger (CDU) calls for Bitcoin advisory board for Germany too

Following Donald Trump's speech at the Bitcoin Conference, Dr. Stefan Berger, CDU politician and Member of the European Parliament, has already commented several times on the US's emerging more Bitcoin-friendly strategy. "Those who don't embrace Bitcoin will watch others do it," the 54-year-old posted on the 𝕏 platform the day after Trump's appearance. He also criticized the fact that Bitcoin had been neglected in Europe for too long.

The politician, who deals with the regulation of digital assets among other things in the European Parliament's Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, also deduced necessary steps for Germany from the current developments in the US.

One of the Republican presidential candidate's promises, which the media here in Germany have also jumped on, is the establishment of a "Bitcoin Advisory Board". According to Donald Trump, "transparent regulatory guidelines for the benefit of the entire industry" are to be drafted there by people "who love their industry".

Berger shared an Instagram post from Business Insider about Trump's announcement and commented that such an advisory board was also lacking in this country. The opposition politician did not miss the opportunity to take a swipe at the SPD and the Greens for their supposed rejection of Bitcoin as an "innovation of freedom".

The fact that high-ranking CDU politicians are making positive statements in favor of Bitcoin is currently the exception rather than the norm. For example, the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the German Bundestag submitted a legislative proposal this year that was hostile to Bitcoin and freedom. Among other things, this included a registration requirement for self-managed wallets and a ban on exchanging cash for digital assets - Blocktrainer.de reported.

In this context, the "Bitcoin in the Bundestag" initiative also drew attention to the legislation called for by Berger's party colleagues on the 𝕏 platform.

Dr. Berger, we share your view that an advisory board/parliamentary group on Bitcoin is missing. Joana Cotar has been calling for this since the start of the Bitcoin initiative in the Bundestag. In addition to the SPD and Green parliamentary groups, the CDU/CSU parliamentary group is also in need of correction.
@BTCimBundestag _{on 𝕏}

Since its inception, a perspective concern of the "Bitcoin in the Bundestag" initiative has been "the establishment of a formal Bundestag committee that recognizes the technological differences between Bitcoin and other crypto assets and primarily deals with the significance of Bitcoin for our society".

Member of the Bundestag Joana Cotar also pointed out more than a year ago in her draft motion the need for a "staff unit to coordinate the strategic direction of the German Bitcoin industry", which "advises the federal government and the Bundestag with expert information at least every six months".

The announcements from Donald Trump's Bitcoin speech appear to have triggered a paradigm shift. A member of the Legislative Council in Hong Kong has already emphasized that a Bitcoin reserve is worth considering and that he will now discuss its feasibility with interest groups in the Chinese Special Administrative Region - Blocktrainer.de reported.

Even in Germany, where the topic of Bitcoin is at best neglected in politics, a rethink seems to be taking place due to its increasing relevance. It remains to be seen whether other high-ranking German politicians will draw attention to themselves with Bitcoin-friendly statements or demands and whether the old parties will slowly abandon their rather hostile stance towards Bitcoin and financial privacy.