Europe is visibly behind other parts of the world when it comes to the widespread adoption of Bitcoin (BTC). Yet something special is happening right under our noses. One European country has already purchased Bitcoin for the state treasury and it is close by: Luxembourg.
Enough reason to have the Minister of Finance of the tiny country speak on stage at Bitcoin Amsterdam 2025. We at Newsbit were there and put the most important things on paper.
Tiny country with a big Bitcoin gesture
Luxembourg, one of our neighboring countries with less than 700,000 inhabitants, was featured in the Bitcoin news at the beginning of last month. During the presentation of the 2026 budget, Finance Minister Gilles Roth announced that the fund has invested 1 percent of its total assets in the cryptocurrency.
That fund was established in 2014 to manage national reserves for future generations and manages approximately 630 million euros. It is the first country on European soil to invest in bitcoin.
Last Thursday he took the stage at the SugarFactory to share their progressive vision with thousands of Bitcoiners. He immediately made it clear that it was not an announcement ”to attract attention”.
He received loud applause when he said that he believes there is no option to invest funds in other cryptocurrencies:
“While the fund’s investment policy allows for an allocation to any crypto asset, it has chosen to invest only in Bitcoin because as Michael Saylor once said, there is no second best.”
Bitcoin is increasingly joining the world stage. This week it was announced that Abu Dhabi’s investment fund has almost tripled its exposure to Bitcoin. At the end of the third quarter, the counter stood at more than half a billion dollars worth of shares in BlackRock’s Bitcoin fund.
Parties of this kind of size are of course not intended to be withdrawn after the first revival. Roth also emphasized that the weak Bitcoin price in recent weeks does not change their confidence in the long-term future of the currency. “Let me be clear: Luxembourg HODL’t,” he said.
Cryptohart van Europa
The minister pointed out with visible pride how early Luxembourg entered the crypto world. “We regulated the very first European crypto exchange Bitstamp almost a decade ago,” he said.
By this he refers to 2014, when Bitstamp received an official license as a payment institution in Luxembourg. That decision was still very daring at the time. At the time, Bitcoin was mainly seen as an experiment on the edge of the financial system. At that time, the rate was still below 1,000 euros and while most countries looked the other way, Luxembourg opted for clarity and supervision.
This approach has made Luxembourg home to a large ecosystem of exchanges, custodians and service providers. It is therefore no coincidence that Coinbase chose to set up its EU hub in Luxembourg this summer.
Many European policymakers believe that central supervision makes European companies stronger. But according to the minister it works exactly the other way around.
“Don’t be fooled by people who say central supervision is the panacea… it just adds layers, bureaucracy and costs, and makes Europe’s next crypto industry less competitive.”
Roth believes that European rules have become ”too complex” and regulation ”too burdensome”. “What we need is more simplicity,” he said. The Markets in Crypto Assets Regulation (MiCAR) is the new European crypto law that has been gradually introduced since 2024. It aims to create one clear rulebook for all crypto companies in Europe.
Hybrid monetary system
“I’ve tasted the orange pill, but I’m not a Bitcoin maxi,” is a statement that has stuck.
Roth doesn’t believe the world will completely transition to a Bitcoin standard, as Bitcoin maximalists do, but he does expect it to become a permanent pillar of the financial system.
“We will see a hybrid world where CBDCs, stablecoins, tokenized bank deposits and crypto coexist,” he said. When those systems integrate further, “adoption becomes not only responsible, but a logical choice.”
The minister ended his speech with a clear message:
“Bitcoin can help shape the future of finance in a way that is safe, open and good for the European and global economy.”
Source: https://newsbit.nl/luxemburg-kiest-bitcoin-minister-van-financien-spreekt-op-bitcoin-amsterdam-2025/
