French Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Sarah Knafo presented a high-level speech, urging the European Union (EU) to adopt a “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” as part of a broader effort to promote financial independence and combat inflationary pressures.
A French magistrate and member of the Cour des Comptes, Knafo’s background includes public service and political consulting, particularly for Jewish presidential candidate Éric Zemmour. Knafo’s public role has grown steadily since he was elected to the European Parliament in 2024.
Why the EU Needs a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve
In his speech on the floor of Parliament, Knafo used global examples—citing El Salvador’s early adoption of Bitcoin and political figures such as former US President Donald Trump and Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell—to emphasize the growing wave of institutional adoption. He asserted that the EU’s current financial strategies put member states at a disadvantage amid what he described as rapid financial development.
“It has been 3 years ago, on the other side of the Atlantic, the president of El Salvador decided to invest in his country with crypto-currencies,” said Knafo, referring to the 2021 legal tender law of El Salvador. “At that time he was insulted by the political party and the IMF. Today, he is up 100%.
Underscoring an opportunity considered lost in EU countries, Knafo said El Salvador’s move has yielded huge benefits – resources, he said, that the country has used to strengthen “the security and sovereignty of its country.” Turning to the United States, he admitted that “Donald Trump will establish a Bitcoin depository for the United States.”
Knafo also asked for the public status of Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, saying “Jerome Powell […] now he’s talking about it as ‘digital gold.’” He put these developments as signs that other major economies are adapting to decentralized finance, while “the European Union. […] continues to accumulate woefully short of inflation,” with existing regulatory measures he criticized as overly restrictive.
“We don’t want this dystopian world,” warned Knafo, referring to the European Central Bank’s work on the digital euro. “When tomorrow a European official will be able to prevent us from doing something and also remove us from the banking system by clicking on the button of something we say on social media.”
Throughout his speech, Knafo called for a change in the entire monetary policy of the EU: “It is time to say no to the authoritarian temptation of the European Central Bank, which wants to force the digital euro completely into its hands. […] It is time to bet on freedom.”
He went on to advocate for a thriving Bitcoin mining sector in the EU, suggesting that France’s nuclear power infrastructure could provide a competitive edge. “We, the French, hold the cards with our nuclear trumpet,” he said, pitching domestic electricity generation as an alternative to large-scale mining.
Knafo also addressed the need to reform current tax policies, urging lawmakers to “stop taxing cryptocurrency owners” and insisting that crypto-asset owners take personal risks to generate their wealth. He pointed out the existing government deficit as a direct cause of inflation and economic instability: “It is the government deficit that causes the creation of money.” […] creating inflation, leading to chaos […] Let them protect themselves from this madness you have created.”
At press time, Bitcoin traded at $106,947.
The featured image was created with DALL.E, a chart from TradingView.com
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