Paris politician Bernard Debré, the deputy of the National Assembly of France and a member of the Union for a Popular Movement in Paris, has stated that Bitcoin should be banned in the city, according to a local report.
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Recently, the bureaucrat participated in a French-based survey, conducted by the magazine Current Values, where he discovered that drugs can be bought online with the cryptocurrency in just a few clicks, highlighting his concern about the rise of drug trafficking via the internet.
When questioned by the Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve what should be done about the situation Debré said that the cryptocurrency should be banned in Paris and that La Maison du Bitcoin (House of Bitcoin) should be shut down in the French capital.
The French national is of the opinion that online drug sites, many of which are ‘often hosted in the Netherlands,’ need to be shut down. Since the Paris attacks, many of the region’s bureaucrats have hardened their stance when it comes to encryption techniques. Many, including Debré, believe that by banning Bitcoin it will end the illegal activities that Parisians are potentially taking part in.
By simply removing La Maison du Bitcoin, Debré feels that those operating in the city would stop these activities regarding cryptocurrency operations.
When asked to explain the Darknet, Debré said that it was like a ‘supermarket’ where you can where you can buy “everything”, listing both “Kalashnikovs, TNT, counterfeit money, organs graft “as cocaine.
Of course, the reality is this is far from new, nor is the likelihood of a ban on Bitcoin likely to stop individuals from finding ways to purchase illegal items on the internet. While Bernard Debré is very opinionated about drug use and is calling for a parliamentary commission on the issue, it seems unlikely that the French politician has enough sway to ban Bitcoin in Paris completely.