European Lawmaker Pushes For National Bitcoin Reserve, Cites El Salvador’s Resounding Success

Sarah Knafo, a French magistrate and a member of the European Parliament since June, has called on the European Union to copy President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve while rejecting the proposed adoption of the digital euro — a central bank-backed digital currency currently being developed by the European Central bank. Her push for a national Bitcoin reserve comes amid a historic market upsurge that has propelled the world’s largest crypto by market capitalization to new heights in recent weeks, with BTC today marking a new record high above $108,000. No To Digital Euro, Yes To Strategic BTC Reserve In a speech before the European parliament, Sarah Knafo urged European lawmakers to establish a strategic BTC reserve. Knafo declared, “It is time to protect our people from inflation and the poor economic choices of our states.” She then reiterated her statements in a post on X (aka Twitter). She also cautioned that the European Central Bank’s plans of launching a central bank digital currency could result in a “dystopian world” where transactions are monitored, and citizens are debunked for simple remarks on social media platforms. The lawmaker stated, “it is time to bet on freedom,” adding: “No to the digital euro, yes to a strategic Bitcoin reserve.” Knafo further indicated that it’s time for the ECB to stop “totalitarian temptations” by urging a shift from regulatory overreach in crypto to adopting the decentralized nature of Bitcoin. She pointed out that Europe has adopted a different approach to crypto. While the U.S. mulls a strategic, national stockpile of the top cryptocurrency, local regulators in Europe have been mostly focused on regulation, taxation, and suppressing innovation. Knafo highlighted the outstanding success of El Salvador, where President Nayib Bukele made the unpopular decision to make Bitcoin legal tender in late 2021. Bukele was harshly criticized by U.S. politicians, the World Bank, and the IMF for the move. Nonetheless, the Latin American nation’s Bitcoin experiment has paid off handsomely , garnering over $300 million in unrealized profits so far. Calls To Stockpile Bitcoin Gain Traction Around The World Knafo’s speech comes as the U.S. stance toward Bitcoin undergoes massive changes following Donald Trump’s win against Kamala Harris last month. Trump and his allies have frequently voiced their support behind legislation to create a Bitcoin strategic reserve and will soon be well-positioned to make that a reality. Several U.S. lawmakers have made pushes to establish a strategic Bitcoin reserve. Binance ex-CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao recently forecasted the BTC reserve policy would be imitated globally. “This also has a knock-on effect on other countries in the world. If the U.S. is doing this, then every other country will have to do this,” he posited at the Bitcoin MENA conference last week. Notably, government officials in Brazil have already submitted legislation to realize that possibility, while a Japanese lawmaker named Satoshi put forth a formal request to his nation’s legislature last week to start a discussion about developing a national Bitcoin reserve for Japan.