The creator of the Internet “vv” asked MPs a simple question: “Would you rather get 1 BTC or PLN 10,000?” Answers? Well, some of them are breathtaking. A viral social experiment in the Polish Sejm revealed a ridiculous reality: people who create laws regarding cryptocurrencies often have no idea what they are.
Legislative absurdity
Robert Telus from PiS asked at the beginning without a trace of irony: “Who is Bitcoin?”. After a short education from the reporter, the MP decided on… PLN 10,000. For context: 1 BTC is currently approximately PLN 385,000. Choosing PLN 10,000 instead of an amount forty times higher is not only a miss – it is a cosmic financial mistake. But the problem goes much deeper than a funny on-camera blunder.
The same MPs who confuse BTC with a person are voting on cryptocurrency regulations. They are creating laws relating to blockchain technology, stablecoins, DeFi and Web3 – concepts that sound to them like spells from Harry Potter.
Poland is implementing the EU MiCA regulation, which is to regulate the cryptocurrency market worth over USD 3.6 trillion globally. Meanwhile, some of our representatives cannot distinguish Bitcoin from a banking application. It’s like a car mechanic not knowing what an engine is.
Education about BTC and cryptocurrencies? Urgently needed!
The situation is funny and terrifying at the same time. The cryptocurrency industry in Poland is developing dynamically – we have stock exchanges, blockchain startups, thousands of investors. What about legislators? They are somewhere in 2010, literally a dozen or so months after Satoshi Nakamoto mined the first Bitcoin block, published the White Book and started the cryptocurrency revolution.
Maybe it’s time for mandatory training for MPs voting on technological regulations? How else are they supposed to create sensible law for an industry worth PLN 1 billion, if the basic concepts are black magic to them? Bitcoin, Ethereum, Proof-of-Work sound as exotic to them as Avada Kedavra.
A humorous appeal for MPs and senators – the next time someone offers you 1 BTC or PLN 10,000, you already know which answer to choose 😉
