So I talked to Michael Saylor but that's not even the main story here
So I talked to Michael Saylor but that's not even the main story here
The main story is the amazing Bitcoin-only event we just had - with 800 people from Austria, Germany and Switzerland. The German speaking community is exploding.
I hate writing about conferences.
So many topics, so many people, so many angles. It’s like asking a kid how school was. What a stupid question, right? It’s was always “good”. Sometimes “very good”. You never get more details.
Anyway. Recently the mountain town of Innsbruck, Tyrol, saw what was surely the best, largest and funniest Bitcoin-conference in Europe so far. And here’s the thing: It was (almost exclusively) in German.
So today, let me tell you a little about the event, the German Bitcoin community and German “pleb culture”…
This post is sponsored by…
21bitcoin - The easy way to buy, sell, save and send Bitcoin.
21bitcoin is a Bitcoin-only app, not an exchange. No distraction, individual savings plan, very low fees, first class personal support, and a German bank account. Based in the Austrian Alps, available throughout Europe. Download now.
The “BTC22” was very well organised and the feedback was so positive, the conference really set new standards. 800 people, 50 speakers, Saylor and Saif showed up remotely. Jimmy Song was actually there - and confirmed in his newsletter that he didn’t have so much fun on a conference for a long time.
Wait, Saylor?
Yes I had the pleasure to host a chat with him. We spoke for 40 Minutes and he didn’t hold back. His definition of a security vs. Bitcoin is something else. Imaginary hospitals!
See for yourself:
But the main story I’d like to tell today is that of the German speaking community. This includes people from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and South Tyrol (as well as one guy who flew in from Hong Kong) - but from now on I will just write about the “German community”.
The BTC22 in Innsbruck was a blast
Germans hate inflation and love engineering, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise: But the Bitcoin community took a while to develop. And I’m talking Bitcoin-only here.
There wasn’t a single sponsor in Innsbruck that wasn’t Bitcoin-only. The main partner was Graz based Bitcoin-broker Coinfinity, who are also the main sponsor of my German Podcast - and just all around great guys. They’ve been in business since 2014 and also run a physical shop in the capital of Styria.
Peter Taschler, the madman behind the whole conference, even said no to some huge exchanges who wanted to sponsor - after he saw that they offered shitcoins.
Instead we had Coinfinity, Relai and 21Bitcoin (the sponsor of this newsletter) there - three of the four main Bitcoin-only players in the region (the fourth being Pocket Bitcoin who didn’t attend).
Innsbruck did add a commercial component with the “industry day” - that was dedicated to Bitcoin businesses. We had people from mining companies, payment providers & banks. Also Bitcoin merch and breakfast granola (obviously).
The industry day was well received, considering the enormous drive of many Bitcoiners to “do something” within the Bitcoin space. But it was only the beginning. We had two main conference days with dozens of talks and panels ranging from monetary history to mining and Lightning.
But there is still another side to the German community. The “pleb culture” is as strong as ever.
For example: Peter organised a spot where people could camp in order to save money. I talked to people of all ages and from all over at the conference. To students in their 20ies, fathers in their 30ies and people in their 50ies and 60ies.
German pleb culture: origins and development
German pleb culture has two main roots: The “Einundzwanzig” movement and the “Zitadelle” - which is, you guessed it, German for “Citadel”.
Einundzwanzig started as a community podcast in 2020 and has developed into a whole network of content producers, meetups and conferences. The Zitadelle event is small, intimate and strictly non-commercial. We had two so far: One in a castle in Eastern Germany and the other one on a huge farm in Switzerland.
Rumor has it that I need to bring the Zitadelle to Austria next year, but that’s another story.
Huge props are going out to Jeff and the team at Fulmo in Berlin who have been there all the way, helping where they can and pulling people into the Lighning network rabbit hole at lightning speed (scnr).
Today, Einundzwanzig is an international movement too, with chapters in Italy, the Balkans and Turkey. Check out Gigi’s website twentyone.world.
But the core is still Germany, Austria and Switzerland, as you can see on this map of meetups.
This is only growing. New meetups are popping up almost every day.
We have Runners, Swimmers and Rappers
Then there is teamsatoshi. It’s a sports club for Bitcoiners. Runners, bikers, hikers, swimmers, you name it. This isn’t strictly German but many sporting events are being done in Germany/Austria/Switzerland. (I haven’t taken part unfortunately, still waiting for the first Bitcoin ski trip!)
Just recently they concluded a biketour painting a giant Bitcoin-B onto the map of Europe. Why? WHY NOT!!
And we’re not done yet.
The countries that brought you Mozart, Goethe, Schiller and Beethoven are not going to exclude culture and music.
Let me introduce: PlebRap.
The four German rappers Justanothernod3, Toobittofail, Hanspanzer & Kid deliver quality entertainment. Let me tell you, I’ve been listening to (German) hiphop for decades. This could have been very cringe. But it isn’t. In fact, their shows are already one of the highlights of any German Bitcoin event.
In Innsbruck they were performing in front of a crowd of hundreds.
And two weeks later we’re still talking about it on Twitter.
Till next time, Niko
🚨 I have merch now :) If you go to Satoshistore.io you can check out the “Niko collection” with shirts, hoodies etc. that say: FIX THE MONEY!
And with discount code “Niko05” you can get 5% off (all items in the store).
This post is sponsored by…
21bitcoin - The easy way to buy, sell, save and send Bitcoin.
21bitcoin is a Bitcoin-only app, not an exchange. No distraction, individual savings plan, very low fees, first class personal support, and a German bank account. Based in the Austrian Alps, available throughout Europe. Download now.