Christoph de Bockeler became the first European politician to convert his entire salary into Bitcoin (BTC). 2022 started with a bold move, hoping to raise awareness about Bitcoin and alternative currency models, financial education, and get people talking.
Beukelas first entered Bitcoin and blockchain in 2017 and envisions a future where Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies will play a role “similar to the traditional financial world.” Cointelegraph interviewed him to dig deeper into his vision of bitcoin and his motivations for paying with bitcoin.
Asked how long it takes to get bitcoin and “go down the rabbit hole,” De Boekelaer said that not having time to learn the protocol is “one of the biggest risks we face in Europe right now.” It is to explain:
“Politicians don’t waste time on this journey. They are very concerned about the day-to-day running of cities and countries, but they don’t stop and say, OK, what’s going on now? It’s coming in the next 10, 20, 50 years? And that’s business.”
The 34-year-old Brussels minister admitted that the lack of awareness about cryptocurrencies and the bitcoin space is a “big problem” and that if Europe does not get dirty in the crypto space, “Asia [or] the United States will decide everything.”
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In his opinion, getting paid in bitcoin is a great way to increase awareness of the space, and as a professional European official, this action brings a new level of trust to the space.
When pressed to give a Bitcoin price prediction for 2022, he skillfully dodged the question and joked that 2022 would provide “amazing results.”
