The Brussels parliamentarian will receive his EUR-5,500 salary through an exchange platform. He thus joins the mayor of Miami, Francis Suárez, and his counterpart of New York, Eric Adams.
The adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) continues to grow and conquer more political spaces worldwide. Belgian Member of Parliament Christophe De Beukelaer recently revealed that he would accept his salary in Bitcoin, thus becoming the first European politician to do so.
A local media outlet reported that the Brussels parliamentarian would receive his EUR-5,500 salary through an exchange platform. The representative of the Humanist Democratic Center (CDH) party hopes to inspire other politicians in the region to take an interest in nascent technology.
In that way, the Belgian deputy is another politician who joins the adoption of Bitcoin in developed countries. Two specific cases in the United States are Francis Suárez, the mayor of Miami, and Eric Adams, his counterpart in New York.
Apple Invests in the Metaverse and Its Stock Price Skyrockets
The stock price of Apple soared after its CEO, Tim Cook, released the results of the first quarter of 2021. At the time, he revealed that he sees considerable potential in the Metaverse space.
The executive said they saw a lot of potential in that space, so they invested in it. He added that they always explored new and emerging technologies and explained that this interested them very much.
Criminals Laundered USD 8.6 Billion Worth of Cryptocurrencies in 2021
A recent report from Chainalysis revealed the trends in crypto crime in 2021, revealing several surprises. Criminals laundered USD 8.6 billion worth of cryptocurrency, a drop from the total of USD 10.9 billion in 2019. Although it was much higher than the USD 6.6 billion laundered in 2020, it represented only 0.05% of all crypto-asset transactions.
Furthermore, data from the analytics portal also indicated that a surprisingly small number of criminals received huge amounts of crypto assets.
Goldman Says Increased Adoption Will Not Boost Crypto Prices
Investment bank Goldman Sachs has warned crypto buyers that further adoption of tokens will not drive prices higher. He pointed out that macroeconomic factors are now exerting a more significant influence on the markets for those assets. Additionally, the interest from the company in launching a stablecoin appears to have waned.
The strategists from the company, Zach Pandl, and Isabella Rosenberg, warned about the price of cryptocurrencies through a note.
The total crypto market capitalization has fallen by around 40% since November 2021. The bank recently said that macroeconomic factors or developments outside of digital markets were the main drivers of that crash.
Although widespread adoption may increase valuations, correlations with other financial market variables may increase. That reduces the diversification benefits of holding digital assets, according to a group of analysts led by Zach Pandl.
The interest in cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin has increased significantly since its inception, and politicians have not overlooked it. Even though many analysts and regulators link them to illegal activities, studies indicate that the percentage is too low.
By Alexander Salazar
