A political spark from Berlin has sent fresh energy through Europe’s digital-asset conversation.

The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party has put forward a proposal urging the government to treat Bitcoin as a strategic reserve asset — a move that, if ever adopted, would place Europe’s largest economy on an entirely new monetary trajectory.

The idea appeared in parliament on October 29, wrapped in economic anxiety and political ambition. AfD lawmakers framed Bitcoin not as a speculative token but as a tool of national defense — protection against inflation, fiscal mismanagement, and what they see as creeping overreach from Brussels and the European Central Bank.

JUST IN: ?? Germany’s second-largest party, AfD, introduced a motion to build a #Bitcoin reserve. pic.twitter.com/TeM4yUoIVe

— Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) October 29, 2025

Germany’s Bitcoin U-Turn?

Ironically, the proposal arrives just months after Berlin liquidated almost 50,000 BTC seized in past criminal cases. Those coins were sold near $54,000, a price that looks painfully low now that Bitcoin trades roughly twice as high. Had the state held, the stash would be worth more than $5 billion today — a detail that has fueled the online uproar surrounding the AfD motion.

“Politicians mocked Bitcoin until it doubled after they sold,” one user on X wrote, capturing the frustration that many German crypto supporters feel toward the government’s earlier decision.

From Opposition to Opportunity

AfD, long skeptical of centralized monetary power, has found new ground in Bitcoin. Its recent motion — titled Recognizing the Strategic Potential of Bitcoin — pushes for lighter regulation, long-term tax exemptions on BTC holdings, and official recognition of the asset as “stateless money.” The party argues that Germany must encourage ownership rather than taxation if it hopes to lead the next financial cycle.

The initiative contrasts sharply with mainstream German policy, which has so far focused on compliance and oversight rather than adoption. But it taps into a growing European current that sees Bitcoin not as a threat, but as a hedge against institutional fragility.

France, Switzerland, and a Regional Ripple

Only a day before AfD’s announcement, French lawmaker Éric Ciotti and his UDR party introduced a bill in Paris calling for France to build its own Bitcoin reserve — roughly 2 percent of total supply over several years, funded through public mining, seized assets, and savings allocations.

Across the border, Swiss parliamentarian Samuel Kullmann continues his long-running campaign to enshrine Bitcoin in Switzerland’s constitution and add it to the central bank’s balance sheet. These proposals differ in scope but share a common premise: Europe’s monetary future should include decentralized assets.

Still, few analysts expect rapid adoption. The French motion faces political headwinds, and Germany’s governing coalition is unlikely to hand a major policy win to the AfD. Yet even symbolic gestures can change the tone of debate — and that, observers say, may already be happening.

Europe’s Reserve Gap

For now, Europe’s presence in the Bitcoin treasury landscape is thin. Data from Bitcoin Treasuries shows only the U.K. and Finland holding government-level BTC, while Germany and Bulgaria remain at zero. AfD’s motion is unlikely to flip that overnight, but it signals a deeper shift: Bitcoin is no longer being dismissed as “magic internet money” inside European politics. It’s being discussed as a policy instrument.

Whether the Bundestag embraces or ignores the idea, the conversation itself marks a change in tone. A few years ago, Bitcoin was a fringe topic; now it’s part of a fiscal argument about sovereignty, monetary independence, and the limits of fiat stability.

Germany may not be ready to buy Bitcoin for its national reserves just yet — but the debate has begun, and it’s spreading faster than most policymakers expected.