Belgium, an MP converts salary to Bitcoin

Christophe De Beukelaer is an MP in the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium, belonging to the Democratic Humanist Center (cdH), i.e. a Belgian Christian Democratic party. A few days ago he published a post on his official blog stating that he will receive his 2022 salary in Bitcoin. 

The Belgian MP with the salary in Bitcoin

The post, which also expressly promotes the Brussels Blockchain Conference, reveals that the Belgian MP will convert his entire salary into BTC throughout 2022, with the aim of generating interest around Bitcoin.

De Beukelaer states: 

“I am the first in Europe, but not in the world, to want to shine a spotlight on cryptocurrencies with such a move. New York City’s new mayor, Eric Adams, will collect his salary for 3 months in Bitcoin in order to make New York the Bitcoin Center. I think it’s not too late for Brussels and Belgium to be at the forefront of the crypto-currency industry. We already have some great companies in the field (KeyRock, Venly, Settlemint, Logion, NGrave, Argent…) but it’s time to position ourselves clearly and create a real ecosystem”.

De Beukelaer’s decision is thus both propagandistic and political, as he is in fact proposing that Brussels become a cryptocurrency-friendly hub similar to what Adams is trying to do in New York. 

It is worth noting, however, that his party only has just over 7.5% of the seats in the Brussels-Capital Region Parliament, and is currently in opposition. 

Christophe De Beukelaer’s reflections 

Together with blockchain entrepreneur Raoul Ullens, De Beukelaer created an association called precisely “Brussels Blockchain Conference”, which aims to bridge the gap between the blockchain world in Belgium and political and economic decision makers, to promote the emergence of a crypto ecosystem in Belgium. 

The MP wants to show confidence in the crypto ecosystem, which he believes is now a reality. 

He states: 

“I want to show that it is already possible now to live solely on blockchain, with a return on savings and paying bills”.

He then wonders if, while the US is making giant strides in this area, Europe will instead once again end up waking up 10 years later alone to find it has missed the train. 

He also encourages a deep reflection on the current monetary system (Belgium adopts the Euro as its national currency), arguing that monetary policy is a political issue, left in the hands of technocrats for too long. 

However, it is worth mentioning that, for example, Bitcoin’s monetary policy is an exclusively technical issue, and not political at all, and is contrasted with that of central banks precisely because the latter tends to be political instead. 

De Beukelaer also argues that with Blockchain we are at the dawn of a revolution of the same order of magnitude as the one we experienced with the Internet 30 years ago, and that adoption will be exponential.