With the inaugural 'bitcoin im Bundestag' event, bitcoin has entered the political discourse in Germany. Roman Reher of Blocktrainer, the largest German-speaking bitcoin YouTube channel, and Kristian Kläger, CEO and founder of terahash.energy GmbH, gave two formidable introductory presentations at the German Parliament. Since German politicians still primarily associate bitcoin with criminal activities, money laundering and climate damage, the goal was to foster a better understanding of the unique opportunities that bitcoin has to offer.
Privacy was paramount to drive the event. As bitcoin remains a complicated issue in German politics, ensuring the complete privacy of the attending parliamentarians and their staff was crucial to prevent them from potential reprimands from their party leaders. The event was well attended, also by external visitors. As deputies preferred to occupy a back seat on the main floor, ordinary visitors were invited to occupy the front seats. Overall, the event was a great success and more bitcoin events at the Bundestag are in the works. While cameras were not allowed during the main event, a few exclusive moments later allowed select opinions to be captured on camera.
Joana Cotar is the founder of the 'bitcoin im Bundestag' initiative. As an independent MP from her party, she has the privilege of putting bitcoin on the agenda, for example during debates on the introduction of the digital euro. As a party member, this would not have been possible.
Still, his former affiliation with the right-wing AfD party also poses challenges. In German politics, guilt by association is a strong mechanism and no party wants to collaborate with the AfD. It creates a political vacuum and has led to debates within the Berlin bitcoin community. According to her, it is good to remember that bitcoin is apolitical, uncensored and free money, and even your worst enemy can use it.
Also in the German parliament, bitcoin is a bottom-up movement and, according to Joana Cotar, parliamentarians' staff play a crucial role in getting the topic on the agenda. They work long hours with parliamentarians and are often consciously encouraged by members of the German Parliament to explore new topics as well.
In the following interview, Joana Cotar offers an unprecedented insight into the workings of German politics. It analyzes the free access that banking lobbyists have to the German parliament, their strong influence on parliamentarians, and articulates concrete requests such as making bitcoin legal tender, allowing self-custody, promoting sustainable bitcoin mining, and urging opposition to introduction of digital currency. Euro.
This is a guest post by Daniel van Heel. The opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of btc Inc or bitcoin Magazine.
