When Governments Want to Direct Your Wealth, Bitcoin Offers an Exit

You have all probably heard the speech that Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission President, gave at the annual conference “La Rencontre des Entrepreneurs de France 2026,” held on August 26th. It’s been circulating on crypto Twitter like wildfire throughout the past few days.

To those of you who might have missed it, her message was rather clear: the world has already changed, and Europe must respond by becoming more independent, more industrially capable, and more willing to direct capital toward strategic priorities.

Von der Leyen argued that many of the assumptions that once underpinned the Union’s economic model have disappeared. Part of her point was that Europe must become a continent that “produces, invests and protects.” She said that the expanding access to China, open global trade, strategic American protection, cheap imported energy, as well as the West’s technological dominance can no longer be taken for granted.

And as a European, I can get behind some of the things she’s saying. European companies are facing increasingly high energy costs, regulatory complexity, and growing competition from China. However, I can’t help but consider one particular point she’s making to be rather alarming.

Today, 10 trillion EUR in household savings are kept in bank accounts. And a large share of Europe’s savings is invested outside our continent. Europe now needs to put these savings to work for its companies.

The intention behind this may be to boost growth, but the language, to me, reveals something important about the relationship between private wealth and governments.

E.U. Commission President said households have €10T sitting “idle” that can be “put to work” to boost the economy.

Yes, Ursula von der Leyen really said that.

Buy Bitcoin while you can! pic.twitter.com/hguuQjzk3r

— Bitcoin Archive (@BitcoinArchive) September 2, 2026

Who Should Control Your Savings?

From her speech, I see one thing: to policymakers, our household savings are increasingly viewed not just as our property, but as a resource – an economic catalyst that could be encouraged, incentivized, or regulated toward potential objectives.

And, mind you, consider this statement in light of how heavily Europe has traditionally been taxed. A very brief Google search shows that 4 of the top 5 countries in the world with the highest income tax rates are in the European Union.

We already surrender a massive share of our economic output to the state. That, apparently, isn’t sufficient to accomplish the Union’s political and industrial objectives.

So here’s my question: who should decide what my savings are for?

I’ve worked for my money; I’ve paid my taxes when I earned it; I’m also paying consumption taxes when I spend it in the form of VAT. Oh, by the way, guess where the top six countries with the highest VATs are located. So, having this in mind, should my savings be regarded as capital waiting to be deployed toward certain priorities, which may or may not align with my own?

Something’s Becoming Interesting

This is exactly where Bitcoin becomes interesting. With all of its flaws, Bitcoin represents the absolute opposite philosophy.

It’s an asset without a central issuer. The European Central Bank, or any other bank for that matter, cannot increase its total supply. The EC cannot decide to mint more BTC to finance industrial expansion. There is no government that can determine its issuance schedule.

There will never be more than 21 million bitcoin in existence. I can hold it without an intermediary (I know, lately this has become a touchy subject, but still). If I hold it on my own and keep my private keys private, theoretically, nobody can confiscate it. Nobody can tell me what to do with it.

This is an important distinction – one that carries increasing significance in the times that we appear to be headed toward.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to call out European politicians for doing something they haven’t yet done. Most headlines on this topic scream “the EU wants to steal your savings,” while I’m taking a more moderate approach. As an EU citizen, however, as someone who has spent my entire life here, I cannot rule that possibility out, especially not in the face of modern politics.

A few years ago, we were in Amsterdam at a Bitcoin conference, and we asked a bunch of people: “Why do you Bitcoin?”

I guess this is my answer: this is why I Bitcoin.