Germany’s Free Democratic Party (FDP) is increasing its focus on cryptocurrency policies ahead of the country’s upcoming parliamentary elections in February. The party’s recently released election manifesto, published on December 18th, highlights a significant shift towards integrating digital assets like Bitcoin into the existing financial framework.
The term ‘Bitcoin’ appears five times throughout the document. Key Points: – The FDP wants to modernize financial market oversight while maintaining proportional and competitive regulatory standards. – The party proposes expanding BaFin’s responsibilities to support FinTech and crypto innovations. – The FDP believes that German rules should not exceed European minimum requirements to avoid hindering competitiveness.
– The party is open to the ECB and Bundesbank holding Bitcoin in their reserves, though without specifying how or when this might happen. – The FDP supports broad acceptance of card payments and a digital euro that respects user privacy and remains voluntary. This pro-crypto stance from the FDP comes just a few days after party leader and former finance minister Christian Lindner urged Chancellor Angela Merkel to embrace digital currencies like Bitcoin.
In his speech, Lindner criticized Germany’s lack of progress in this area compared to other countries like the US under President-elect Joe Biden.
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