Germany has one of the highest levels of Bitcoin adoption in the world. Usually in the #1 or #2 spot for number of nodes. Why? Do they remember the hyperinflation from a century ago? Yet German politicians are overwhelmingly against it. Why? Liberal ESG concerns?
maybe has something to do with the technical education and/or living standards? buying hardware for a node must be considered relatively cheap over there/very little expense
Germany has a vibrant and enthusiastic community with many Bitcoin-only podcasts and YouTube channels. The @blocktrainer is educating many people and @Einundzwanzig managed to grow a meetup scene in over 150 german-speaking cities. Many hardcore plebs doing on-the-ground work, giving workshops and pushing the Bitcoin-only vibe. Politicians over here are simply crazy, catering to many socialist tendencies, which have increased for a longer time.
That's fantastic! I'd heard they were experiencing quite a bit of inflation right now as well. Of course the entire world is. I'd heard that they were experiencing somewhat worse inflation though. Is that correct?
It was kind of exciting the day @The Nodestrich ♾️ passed Einundzwanzig 🇩🇪 in membership earlier this year. Believe it or not, the Dutch-speaking community has an even larger group on @Amboss, and we’re about to overtake them soon as well! 🇳🇱 https://image.nostr.build/119489d341bf2be6e8c1979755fd33bca3c6b067206ffdc8aa3e3ed4e2ce3849.jpg
It's because germans never developed an investment culture lile the US. They are sitting on a gigantic melting ice cube of cash and their belove real estate market is in the toilet. nostr:nevent1qqsgf47ddkh6hnjxwut4nydah5t7xl4d7n0sdzzdml7jf843gjxy83spzpmhxue69uhkummnw3ezuamfdejsyg8h9rv7decysdvwwzfs7h9xfvyhwuxe38xds6z5lescak5u3gupqcpsgqqqqqqserq7h2
• Cypherpunks • Stasi and Communism
Culturally pessimistic, expecting the worst. Same reason they shuttered their nuclear program.
Good point, I actually remember my father telling me the story about the Weimarer Republik when I was a kid: the Germans carrying around bags full of banknotes for grocery shopping and so on... that stuck in by head, mainly because I couldn't explain why money loses its value over time. That story actually is why I've always known what "hyperinflation" means. But without my motivation to manage my family's finances as a young father I would never have gotten into the space... and then it was the YouTube Algorithmus which sent me to @Einundzwanzig and @blocktrainer . In my experience there are relatively few German speaking crypto bros in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Maxi educators somehow were on top of the algorithm...
I still got some billion mark notes from my grandmother 😂
Share pic of it if you can. Curious.
Okay, I got it wrong. It's "only" 100 million mark 😅 Out also got some form of watermark, but on the other hand it only got images and text on one side. The other side is blank. https://image.nostr.build/32972706350e47147324a857fe862c531ce3b550f4945f427e79f255cdd4070b.jpg
I did not know this. How usable are bitcoins in Germany? Today
Same as everywhere I'd say - bitcoin works just fine... But if you wan't to spend in daily life, you'll need one of those crypto credit cards and some few locations in major cities that may accept payments when the right person is behind the counter. 5/10 people still laugh when I mention bitcoin, 4 will tell me how somebody got rich on DogeCoin and maybe 1 will consider giving it further thought and their own research.
Last time I visited 10 years ago, paper money was more widely accepted than Visa/Mastercard; even in Berlin :) Why I was curious of the development of this. Seems on social media posts that some hipp bars in Berlin now and then take crypto payments for drinks, at least xD
Yeah... Covid did help a little with the paper slips I guess, but as a precaution I'd still recommend visitors to prepare themself for a not so friendly german-stare when pulling out the credit card at a small coffee shop or bakery 😉
Germany is very conservative with money. Lot of cash payments. Lot of gold bugs. But there are also many tech guys. Getting the conservativs to understand how conservative bitcoin is takes time. Once they know it they stay however. Maybe americans join and leave with bullruns but don't really dig deeper into it.
We Germans are bipolar maniacs on almost every possible occasion 😅 (e.g. renewables) No seriously: the majority of Germans (especially older people) are extremely skeptical of credit cards and digital payment systems like Apple/Google Pay - Cash is very important and highly valued, still. Before the pandemic it was sometimes the only option to pay at small merchants and markets. Usually you would expect card payments only available above a threshold of 10€ total. 🤯
We love ze hart money We don't love ze politicians
I think Bitcoin gains against fiat are zero tax in Germany when selling one year after purchasing. I think this part might be seen as quite supportive.
Germans LOVE to save in fiat money, although it doesn’t make sense and loses value. Wait till they find out about Bitcoin, 99% are still absolutely clueless. Germans are old and very risk-averse, they don’t like stocks, they were traumatized in 2000 with the burst of the dotcom bubble and the Telekom „Volksaktie“, which for many was their first investment in stocks. When they find out that Bitcoin is the best savings device EVER… boy, buckle up! There is SO much money in German fiat savings accounts (almost 3 TRILLION).