A Belgian official was paid in Bitcoin throughout 2022. Was he happy with the experiment?
At the end of January 2022, Belgian MP Christophe de Bucelaere became the first European politician to be paid in cryptocurrency. His experiment is now a year old, which means it’s a good time to share his experience and impressions, which the official did in a recent interview. Overall, Bukelaer believes his decision is the right one, and that it could play a positive role on a large scale for his entire country. We tell you more about what’s going on.
It should be noted that the topic of converting income into Bitcoin from politicians is not new. For example, in November 2021, New York Mayor Eric Adams pledged his first three salaries for his new post in BTC. He motivated his choice by saying that New York should become a hub for the cryptocurrency industry, so the mayor’s job is to facilitate that.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez has also indicated his desire to receive pension accruals. He is generally a known fan of cryptocurrencies, so his initiative did not come as a surprise to the blockchain community.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez
Who gets paid in Bitcoin?
Back in 2022, Boukelaer, who represents the Belgian party Humanist Democratic Centre (CDH), cited the example of New York City Mayor Eric Adams as a justification for his decision. As we have already noted, Adams himself has repeatedly advocated the promotion of various crypto-related initiatives in his city.
Bucaelaer’s monthly salary of €5,500, or $6,140, was transferred into crypto through the Bit4You cryptocurrency trading platform. Here’s how he comments on it. The official’s remarks are cited by Cointelegraph.
I committed this political act to protect my ideas.
Christophe de Bucelaere
It’s about protecting financial freedom, economic opportunity, fighting financial illiteracy and creating a new economic model. Incidentally, in the context of the latter, the official sees a direct link between Bitcoin and environmental protection. He continues.
What does the central bank do when it prints money, as it has done in recent years? It creates the illusion of infinite resources and thereby encourages all economic actors to produce and consume more and more.
Note that Bitcoin's supply at the same time is limited to the 21 million coin mark. At the same time, more modern blockchains like Ethereum and Avalanche burn through transaction fees, so the supply of coins in networks can become smaller over time. Which means that such cryptocurrencies can be called deflationary.
Bokelaer considers his experiment a success, both in putting Belgium on the map of cryptocurrency adoption and in encouraging local officials to educate themselves about digital assets. Here’s his quote.
Many politicians thought: ‘De Bokelaer is not an anarchist. If he’s interested in Bitcoin, there must be something interesting behind it.”
Was it convenient from a practical point of view? Hardly, because the value of Bitcoin in dollar equivalent has fallen considerably during the experiment, and now the price of BTC lags 75 percent behind its all-time high of $69,000. In other words, the purchasing power of the official has decreased considerably, if he would save at least some coins from his salary. However, the Belgian did not care.
It was a political act, not a financial gesture. Like those who grow a moustache in November to fight prostate cancer. I transferred that bitcoin salary into a cold wallet every month and didn’t touch it. My goal was not to live in cryptocurrency.
It follows from this quote that the politician has savings or other sources of income that allow him to live without a salary. Accordingly, for less well-off people, a fall in the value of BTC on its current scale would prove to be a much more painful event. This means that not everyone can be advised to convert their entire income into cryptocurrency - especially during a bullish trend, when the chances of a market reversal are increasing.
Bitcoin exchange rate in 2022
Note that there have been some fairly successful attempts to live solely on crypto in the past. A prime example is the story of the Taihuttu family, who exchanged all their savings for Bitcoin back in 2016. As the number of places to pay with Bitcoin grows, such practices will become the norm in the future. In the meantime, investors are left to look for spare cash to buy the relatively cheap cryptocurrency with an eye to the future.
By the way, bitcoin accumulation in the current market continues. According to analysts at Glassnode, a whole BTC is now sitting at 981,290 addresses – a record figure. Accordingly, investors continue to believe in the prospects for cryptocurrencies and expect a further market reversal in the future.
Graph of the number of addresses with a whole BTC
We think the Belgian official's experiment made an important point. Apparently, transferring a full salary into cryptocurrency is too dangerous an idea for most people. Still, in the event of a sharp market crash, a person's financial capacity could be at risk, causing further problems. Consequently, everyone should determine the percentage of income that can be easily allocated to investments. And it is easier to treat investments as if they won't have to be touched in the next few years. This will help you to choose the right proportion of your salary to invest.
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