French politician Eric Ciotti, who spearheads the Union of the Right for the Republic (UDR), has introduced a proposal to create a national strategic Bitcoin reserve, according to a report by a local media outlet.
The legislative initiative is meant to strengthen the financial sovereignty of the EU's second-largest economy.
The proposed reserve would be managed by a public administrative establishment (établissement public à caractère administratif), which is an autonomous government body that remains under the supervision of the state.
The reserve would be created with coins mined with surplus nuclear and hydroelectric power, as well as forfeited crypto.
Ciotti has also proposed allocating 25% of deposits from certain popular French savings accounts, specifically the Livret A and the LDDS (Livret de Développement Durable et Solidaire). The remaining 75% would keep funding social housing, government-backed loans, and so on.
Under such a plan, it would be possible to buy roughly 55,000 BTC every year.
Ciotti, who is known for his conservative and right-wing views, believes that the passage of the proposal would put France "at the forefront of monetary freedom."
Will the proposal pass?
The likelihood of Ciotti's proposal passing in the National Assembly, the country's primary legislative body, is rather low.
His party has only 16 out of the 577 seats, and the ambitious proposal is likely to face stiff opposition from some other parties.
Moreover, Ciotti recently faced some controversy after the anti-corruption association Anticor alleged that he had misused public funds when he was the president of the Departmental Council.
Dan Burgin
Vladislav Sopov
U.Today Editorial Team
