Germany’s right-wing opposition party, the Alternative for Germany (AfD), has proposed the country should make a national bitcoin reserve, saying that would make Europe’s biggest economy one of the very first major nations to hold the scarce digital asset as part of its official reserves.
The AfD party’s proposal, introduced in the Bundestag in late October, wants the German government to start stockpiling some bitcoin as a long-term strategic asset.
If the plan is approved, it would be a big shift from Berlin’s approach to bitcoin. Over a year ago, the German government sold off nearly 50,000 BTC seized from criminal investigations—a decision now widely viewed as a missed opportunity.
The sell-off happened between June and July last year, liquidating a hefty stash worth about $3 billion at the time.
Today, those coins would be worth over $6.5 billion, given that the price of bitcoin has rocketed up to over $110,000. When they sold off the lot, it caused a lot of criticism & sparked a big debate about whether Germany had misjudged bitcoin’s potential in the long run.
Related: German Government’s Bitcoin Sales | The Wrong Play?
Many believe that the German politicians mocked bitcoin back then, and now they have lost a lot of potential value, showing frustration among Bitcoin supporters.
AfD’s new motion flips the narrative. It argues that Germany should hold bitcoin instead of selling it, treating it as a modern version of gold — a financial safety net that protects the country from inflation and global uncertainty.
The proposal states that bitcoin’s scarcity and independence from central banks make it a strategic reserve currency.
In the motion, AfD describes Bitcoin as “state-free money” that safeguards individual and national sovereignty.
The party claims the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework—designed for centrally issued digital tokens—should not apply to Bitcoin, which has no issuer or controlling authority.
The proposal also urges the government to:
Keep Germany’s tax exemption on bitcoin held for more than a year,
Ensure that private mining and Lightning Network activities are not classified as commercial businesses,
Protect self-custody rights for bitcoin holders, and
Use excess renewable energy for mining activities to support the country’s energy transition.
AfD party’s lawmakers argue that Bitcoin’s design makes it an ideal hedge against inflation and an instrument of financial independence within the eurozone.
Party co-leaders Alice Weidel and Tino Chrupalla have long voiced skepticism toward EU monetary policies, describing Bitcoin as a tool for sovereignty in an era of increasing centralization.
Germany’s move follows similar initiatives across Europe.
In France, lawmaker Éric Ciotti and his center-right UDR party recently introduced a bill proposing that France build a “National Bitcoin Strategic Reserve” equivalent to about 2% of bitcoin’s total supply — roughly 420,000 BTC.
The French plan aims to fund accumulation through public mining, reallocation of savings, and partial tax payments in bitcoin.
