The Vice-Chancellor of Germany has stated that the future of the EU might be in jeopardy if Brexit is not handled properly.

Sigmar Gabriel said that, if the United Kingdom’s exit caused other countries to follow suit and leave the Union, that would cause the EU to go “down the drain.” He told a news conference that Brexit had damaged Europe’s reputation, causing the continent to become regarded as being unstable.

The UK Prime Minister Theresa May is currently weighing the country’s options regarding the exit vote, while her cabinet remains split on leaving the single market.

A last chance for the EU to learn from its mistakes

Lee Gibson Grant of the Drachmae Travel Club says:

“We need to ask ourselves what is the EU, and what does it really stand for, before we hear more comments coming from Germany representing the EU to the world. Brexit could have been dealt with much better as the opportunity to avoid Brexit was on the table. Going into Brexit was badly handled, so we should expect leaving to be just as desirable.”

The weakening of the EU represents a moment to learn from the past’s mistakes. Luca Dordolo, Italian BTM operator, explains:

“So the question should be: where did Europe get it wrong? What can Europe do to reverse Brexit? And if it is not possible to revert, how Europe has to change so it will not happen again for other EU countries.”

Grant points out that, while the EU continues to suffer from Brexit, the UK has taken advantage of the opportunity for growth.

He notes:

“In the meantime, the UK has the opportunity to rebuild its trade, for example with the Commonwealth nations, which is over 50 states and 2.1 billion of the global population, and has a total GDP $14.5+ Trillion USD.”

EU turmoil and collapse can only be good for Bitcoin

Political and economic problems in Europe could cause a surge in interest and use of Bitcoin.

Dordolo states:

“We can trade just in Bitcoins, the perfect worldwide currency. The fact that this currency/way of payment is not tied to any institutional trade rule/law permits at last free commerce where, really, the only master rule is that of sell/bid ask/offer. So avoiding local fees, VAT and all those kinds of government taxes on goods and services, only then will the real value of those emerge. And that value would be certainly not be in euros or pounds, but in Bitcoins. So I think that Brexit would improve and make Bitcoin have a more widespread use.”