European lawmakers silent on US Bitcoin reserve amid digital euro push

Published

5 months ago

March 10, 2025

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European lawmakers silent on US Bitcoin reserve amid digital euro push

European lawmakers have remained silent on the US Strategic Bitcoin Reserve order, a landmark policy shift favoring early adopters of Bitcoin due to its economic model.

US President Donald Trump’s March 7 executive order outlined a plan to create a Bitcoin reserve using cryptocurrency seized in criminal cases rather than purchasing Bitcoin (BTC) on the market.

Despite the significance of the move, European policymakers have yet to make any major public statements regarding Bitcoin reserves, raising questions about their stance on integrating BTC into national reserves.

This may signal a lack of European Bitcoin reserve-related efforts due to the lengthy process of adding new national reserve assets, according to Anastasija Plotnikova, co-founder and CEO of blockchain regulatory firm Fideum. She said:

“Usually there is a very clear legislative or executive process in adding different assets to the national treasuries, and in many cases, it is not an active voter or central bank support to push this through.”

“[The] ECB [European Central Bank] historically and currently is very critical of BTC as a reserve asset, so it effectively closes the doors to all EU member states,” Plotnikova added.

Meanwhile, European lawmakers are preparing to launch the digital euro, a central bank digital currency (CBDC).

Digital euro push presents payment infrastructure concerns

European lawmakers’ silence on Trump’s Bitcoin reserve order is likely due to its focus on the digital euro, according to James Wo, the founder and CEO of venture capital firm DFG.

“This stems from the ECB’s firm stance against holding Bitcoin in its reserves, as reiterated by ECB President Christine Lagarde,” Wo told Cointelegraph, adding:

“This highlights the EU’s greater emphasis on the digital euro, though the recent outage in the ECB’s Target 2 (T2) payment system, which caused significant transaction delays, raised concerns about its ability to oversee a digital currency when it struggles with daily operations.”

European lawmakers push ahead with digital euro launch for October 2025

Despite skepticism, ECB President Christine Lagarde is pushing ahead with the digital euro’s rollout, expected in October 2025. Lagarde has emphasized that the CBDC will coexist with cash and offer privacy protections to address concerns about government overreach.

“The European Union is looking to launch the digital euro, our central bank digital currency, by October this year,” Lagarde said during a news conference, adding:

“We are working to ensure that the digital euro coexists with cash, addressing privacy concerns by making it pseudonymous and cash-like in nature.”

The United States and the European Union are taking opposite approaches to digital assets. While the EU is working to integrate a centralized digital currency, Trump has taken a firm stance against CBDCs.

While CBDCs have been praised for their potential to increase financial inclusion, critics have raised concerns about their surveillance capabilities and the potential for government overreach.

In July 2023, Brazil’s central bank published the source code for its CBDC pilot, and it took just four days for people to notice the surveillance and control mechanisms embedded within its code, allowing the central bank to freeze or reduce user funds within CBDC wallets.

Magazine: SCB tips $500K BTC, SEC delays Ether ETF options, and more: Hodler’s Digest, Feb. 23 –March. 1

Politics

UK, Australia, Germany, Italy and New Zealand condemn Israel’s plan for new operation in Gaza

Published

8 hours ago

August 9, 2025

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UK joins four countries in condemning Israel's plan for new operation in Gaza

The UK and four allies have criticised Israel’s decision to launch a new large-scale military operation in Gaza – warning it will “aggravate the catastrophic humanitarian situation” in the territory.

The foreign ministers of Britain, Australia, Germany, Italy and New Zealand said in a joint statement that the offensive will “endanger the lives of hostages” and “risk violating international humanitarian law”.

It comes a day after Israel’s security cabinet approved an operation to take military control of Gaza City – and concluded a full takeover of the enclave is required to end the conflict.

It marks another escalation in the war in Gaza, sparked by the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023.

In their joint statement, the UK and its allies said they “strongly reject” the decision, adding: “It will endanger the lives of the hostages and further risk the mass displacement of civilians.

“The plans that the government of Israel has announced risk violating international humanitarian law. Any attempts at annexation or of settlement extension violate international law.”

The countries also called for a permanent ceasefire as “the worst-case scenario of famine is unfolding in Gaza”.

It comes as Sky News analysis has found that airdrops of aid are making little difference to Gaza’s hunger crisis, and pose serious risks to the population – with a father-of-two killed by a falling package.

Meanwhile, France, Canada, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the United Nations all criticised Israel’s plan for a full occupation of Gaza.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “expressed his disappointment” with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s in phone call on Friday after Berlin decided it would stop selling arms to Israel.

In a post on X, the Israeli prime minister’s office added: “Instead of supporting Israel’s just war against Hamas, which carried out the most horrific attack against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, Germany is rewarding Hamas terrorism by embargoing arms to Israel.”

US ambassador hits out at Starmer

Earlier on Friday, the US Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, criticised Sir Keir Starmer after he said Israel’s decision to “escalate its offensive” in Gaza is “wrong”.

Mr Huckabee wrote on X: “So Israel is expected to surrender to Hamas & feed them even though Israeli hostages are being starved? Did UK surrender to Nazis and drop food to them? Ever heard of Dresden, PM Starmer? That wasn’t food you dropped. If you had been PM then UK would be speaking German!”

In another post around an hour later Mr Huckabee wrote: “How much food has Starmer and the UK sent to Gaza?

“@IsraeliPM has already sent 2 MILLION TONS into Gaza & none of it even getting to hostages.”

Sir Keir has pledged to recognise a Palestinian state in September unless the Israeli government meets a series of conditions towards ending the war in Gaza.

The UK and its allies criticised Israel as US President JD Vance and UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy met at Chevening House in Kent on Friday.

Mr Vance described a “disagreement” about how the US and UK could achieve their “common objectives” in the Middle East, and said the Trump administration had “no plans to recognise a Palestinian state”.

He said: “I don’t know what it would mean to really recognise a Palestinian state given the lack of functional government there.”

Mr Vance added: “There’s a lot of common objectives here. There is some, I think, disagreement about how exactly to accomplish those common objectives, but look, it’s a tough situation.”

The UN Security Council will meet on Saturday to discuss the situation in the Middle East.

Ambassador Riyad Mansour, permanent observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, said earlier on Friday that a number of countries would be requesting a meeting of the UN Security Council on Israel’s plans.

Politics

BlackRock launching a SOL ETF in first wave would be ‘messed up’ — Analyst

Published

8 hours ago

August 9, 2025

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<div>BlackRock launching a SOL ETF in first wave would be 'messed up' — Analyst</div>

BlackRock hasn’t filed for a Solana ETF, but ETF analyst James Seyffart says they shouldn’t be allowed to jump in at the last minute after other issuers’ hard work.