This weekly podcast about Bitcoin is the initiative of the Viennese financial journalist Niko Jilch. The goal: to strengthen and network the German-speaking Bitcoin community - and to bring the Bitcoin phenomenon closer to as broad a mass as possible.
We accompany this project as one of the main sponsors in this blog and also make all podcast episodes available here as a video.
Niko Jilch is a financial journalist, speaker and moderator. He has been dealing with our monetary and financial system, inflation, central banks, gold and of course Bitcoin for more than ten years. His ongoing column "Young Money" is published by the digital business medium "Brutkasten".
You can find all info on this project at wasbitcoinbring.com
Elly Pembroke is a nanotech scientist and a native of Germany, but she has lived in "Bitcoin Country" Texas, USA since 2008. In this episode, she explains how the US state's power grid is often stabilized by bitcoin mining. "Bitcoin miners can just be shut down overnight. A chemical company can't do that. In the U.S., people are generally more positive about Bitcoin," Elly reports.
Elly's conclusion: "I see Bitcoin as one of the best forms of energy use. Because it allows people to have purchasing power independent of governments. It's just important that people have the ability to participate in this market." For Elly, Bitcoin is not an investment, nor does she care what value is attributed to Bitcoin in FIAT currencies - for Elly, Bitcoin is a technology with superior values.
"Everything is expanding. Only Bitcoin remains limited"; Roman Reher is one of the most successful, German-speaking Bitcoin Youtubers with around 130,000 subscribers: he is the block trainer. The unexceptional focus on Bitcoin has helped Roman a lot, because instead of dealing with a new crypto project every day, he can now turn his attention to the real world. "What I lacked before Bitcoin was the will to deal with things like physics or mathematics. That has changed."
In this episode, Niko and Roman talk about how he became a block trainer and what drives him every day. Roman also has a few tips for the bear market and crypto winter.
Eva Brauckmann is a financial blogger and podcaster from Munich. She really realised the benefits of Bitcoin the other day when she explained it to a Ukrainian woman who had to flee to Germany: "I witnessed the use case. She understood after two minutes and said, 'Wow, I could have taken everything with me.' This use case will not disappear, I strongly believe that." That something can't be right with our monetary system has been clear to her for some time: "Why do we work two times 40 hours and still can't afford a property?" she asks. "That's the hamster wheel. That's what I want to work out."
Eva wants to get one million women to buy one million sats. She explains why: "This is also to take away the fear of self-deposit. I want as many women as possible to take their finances into their own hands and come off zero. Taking this first step is very important. Because Bitcoin is also self-empowerment and independence."
In this episode, Niko talks to Carsten Roemheld from Fidelity International in Frankfurt. He is a capital market strategist and has already dealt intensively with Bitcoin. Carsten has recognised one thing in particular with regard to Bitcoin's use in emerging markets: "Bitcoin also has a social aspect. For us, Bitcoin is a luxury good, in emerging countries often the only way to escape hyperinflation or to get money out of the country".
Carsten and Niko also talk about the situation of the central banks, the consequences of the political tensions and together they venture an outlook into the year 2030 - in the process they classify the role of Bitcoin in the world as well as in the portfolio.
Fidelity International has gone furthest into the Bitcoin world among US financial services providers. They operate their own mining farm in the US and have set up their own division: Fidelity Digital Assets.
Things are going downhill and not only with Bitcoin. The Fed's interest rate turnaround has also sent the stock market on a downward slide. But what does this mean in the long term? When will the turnaround come and how much pain can central banks allow? "The core of the problem is our monetary system. People are forced to gamble today - even if they are only savers. A Bitcoin standard would be fantastic," says Mark in an interview with Niko.
Mark Valek is an investor, fund manager, book author and Bitcoin fan. He would nominate Bitcoin's creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, for several Nobel Prizes, because Mark is certain: "I am a firm believer that we as humans need a separation of money and state - Bitcoin is one of the best cards we have in our hands".
Manuel and Jonas are the creators of Bitcoin verstehen. Over the past two years, they have built one of the most successful German-language podcasts on the topic of Bitcoin - and it all started with two cheap mics and an idea. The podcast is now very successful, as Bitcoin enjoys increasing demand. Although, in the current bear market, interest might decline a bit. Jonas sees this more as an opportunity, though. He's already thinking about the next cycle: "There's still too little for beginners and novices, you can do much, much more." Just like Bitcoin itself, the content game is still pretty much at the beginning.
In a conversation with Niko, Manuel and Jonas tell the whole story behind "Understanding Bitcoin" and talk about their next plans. Of course, the "opportunity of the century" Bitcoin is (also) a topic, as well as the explosive development of the German-speaking community and the importance of YouTube.
First, parts of the EU Parliament wanted to ban Bitcoin mining in the EU, now they are taking action against "selfhosted" or "unhosted" wallets. The talk is of political forces in Europe, mostly from the left camp, that have a problem with Bitcoin. German CDU politician Stefan Berger is on the other side. "Greens, leftists and far leftists don't like Bitcoin because they are centralists," he says: "But Bitcoin cannot be regulated anymore, it is in the world. It's decentralised and it's not issued by a company."
Berger sees the recurring bad attempts to regulate Bitcoin as a great danger for Europe as a business location: "My goal is a technology-savvy Europe that is able to keep up with the USA and China. Bitcoin has its own inner logic. It is decentralised, it is anti-systematic. It is an intellectual idea of money that is opposed to the idea of a centralised currency."
Inflation is raging, but Saifedean brings us a positive message: "Maybe we don't have to suffer so much. Maybe the last century of fiat money was the apocalypse - and we're coming out the other side of it now."
Saifedean Ammous is the author of the international bestseller book"The Bitcoin Standard" and has just published another book:"The FIAT Standard". By now, he is one of the best-known voices in the Bitcoin scene. "People need Bitcoin, but Bitcoin needs no one in particular. It does, however, reward people who create value," Saif says in this English-language podcast episode.
In this episode, German literary critic and feature writer Ijoma Mangold gives us a whole new take on this "cultural revolution" we call Bitcoin. Ijoma and Niko talk about his way into Rabbithole and how his Berlin media friends deal with his Bitcoin enthusiasm. Is Bitcoin political? Left or right? Up or down? "Bitcoin is a technology, it's an idea," says Ijoma.
In the Bitcoin space, we're seeing a counter-revolution at the moment, even among young people: "Saving has become a positive term again."
When Johannes Grill bought his first Bitcoin, the price was at an all-time high and he experienced his first crash shortly afterwards. However, that was in 2011, when Bitcoin fell from 20 euros to under 10 euros. So the Bitcoin veteran has already been through a few crashes and knows what such hard corrections feel like. Today, the president of the Bitcoin Austria Association can laugh about it and notes: "It's also a challenge to get your Bitcoins over time."
He is surprised by people's excitement and panic about the falling bitcoin price: "Today, the chance that it will stay and establish itself is of course much higher than in the past. That also justifies a higher market value." And he is almost looking forward to a potential bear market: "This is a time of reflection, when you can build something."
"The prices are tumbling and bitcoin analysts are outdoing each other with negative scenarios. The reason for this is, of course, the steps taken by the central banks - first and foremost the Federal Reserve. Money is getting tighter and speculators are getting out. This is also the case with shares, where prices are also falling - but it is particularly noticeable with Bitcoin. It helps to see that nothing has changed fundamentally. Even slightly lower inflation does not at all mean that prices are falling, that fiat money is worth more."
Rahim is convinced that all the negative consequences of political intervention within the last decades certainly cannot be made up for by a small upward step in interest rates. "Interventionism leads to productive activity being punished," says the economist. He sees the bizarre world of FIAT currencies as a clown's world.
Anita Posch, author of the book "(L)earn Bitcoin" and founder of the non-profit initiative"Bitcoin for Fairness", is a woman on a Bitcoin mission. She has long known that Bitcoin is much more than a speculative asset. For years, she has been working to bring the possibilities of this technology closer to people in the second and third world. She sees Bitcoin as a tool of humanity, because Bitcoin is needed everywhere - but especially in countries with unstable banking and currency systems.
In this episode, Niko and Anita talk about their plans to bring Bitcoin closer to the people in Africa as a digital nomad, and of course they also discuss the increasingly stupid regulatory pushes in the EU.
"The US made currency system evolution impossible so now we have a currency system revolution." - Luke Gromen.
Luke is a speaker, frequent guest at finance podcasts and the editor of"The Forest For The Trees" - a long running and extremely relevant newsletter on global macro. Luke is considered one of the most interesting voices in the financial markets today and he joins Niko in this episode for a talk on the history, present and future of our monetary system: from Bretton Woods in 1944 to the Nixon Shock in 1971. From the launch of the Euro in 1999 to the Chinese calling for a new reserve currency in 2009. From Putin saying he wants to join the Euro in 2010 to (monetary) war between West and East in 2022.
Have we already witnessed the beginning of a new economic world order, in which "real stuff" like gold and commodities dominate?
"Bitcoin fixed me!". In this episode, Niko welcomes our Bitcoin Business Developer, Thomas Burgstaller, to his podcast studio. Thomas is fresh from the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami with more than 25,000 attendees, where he clearly saw: "Bitcoin has gone mainstream." But of course the two also talk about the new study according to which Bitcoiners are "psychopaths" - and about many political issues. There is also a preview of the upcoming largest Bitcoin conference in the DACH region: the BTC22 conference in Innsbruck.
Thomas and Niko agree: the coming EU regulation will hardly be able to harm Bitcoin. "Bitcoin will happen," says Thomas, referring to the exponentially growing "Bitcoin adoption rate". But new rules could very well harm Europe as a location.
And that would be a pity. "I am an optimist," says Thomas: "But we are certainly in a phase where a bunch of senseless regulations will come. But I think you can sit it out. The issue will go away, but not by itself. You have to help and get involved."
Today's guest at Niko: Lina Seiche, the creator of the "Little Hodler"! Born in Germany, she has lived as a digital nomad for many years and travels the world. Currently, the Bitcoiner is in Istanbul, where she is experiencing life with high inflation first-hand. In the latest episode of "What Bitcoin Brings", Niko talks to Lina about her career from Altcoins to Bitcoin, about the situation in Turkey - and of course about the "Little Hodler". With her comics, Lina has virtually invented the mascot for Bitcoin. At the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami at the beginning of April, "Little Hodler" was omnipresent.
"When I landed in Bitcoin, I never wanted to leave. The whole industry is innovative and future-oriented. Doing something with Bitcoin is a job with perspective. You feel like you are positively contributing to the future," says Lina. And: "Honesty is very important to Bitcoiners. That's just the Bitcoin style."
Larissa is furious about the recent events in the EU Parliament, in which Bitcoin is in the crosshairs: "Banning things that give people freedom - that is a completely Stalinist action. Money, finance, Bitcoin: these are things that require personal responsibility and at the same time the topic of investment is very controversial. Many people think the state has to take care of everything."
Larissa Kravitz is a Bitcoiner from the very beginning. The financial advisor and book author from Vienna has been collecting Bitcoin since 2011 - via so-called "faucets". The former stock trader and trained financial mathematician has focused on money education for women. Bitcoin, of course, continues to be on her mind.
In this new episode of "What Bitcoin Brings", Niko and Ronald review the past decade. And they wonder what's next. "The central banks are in a bind," says Ronald: "They don't have many aces left up their sleeves." He sees the scenario of a currency reform as realistic. "What that will look like, nobody knows - but gold and bitcoin, the hard money of nature and the internet, are the logical insurance against further currency dilution and turmoil coming our way," says Ronnie. The conflict between "goldbugs" and Bitcoiners is artificial and incomprehensible: "You can own both, after all."
And one must remain optimistic despite all the crises: "Things have always moved on. People started families and businesses even during the world wars. You have to make the best of the situation, says Ronald optimistically.
Our whole monetary system is based on inflation. This is where the "growth compulsion" comes from, which many criticise. The numbers have to rise all the time. And if they don't, the central banks open their money floodgates. They buy government bonds in large quantities. And in some places, for example in Japan, they are already buying shares. If things go on like this, the end of the market economy is imminent, says the German economist Gunther Schnabl. In its place, a kind of state capitalism will emerge, if you can call it that.
Bitcoin can be a kind of counterweight in this world. A "sanction mechanism" says Schnabl. A clinical thermometer that indicates when demonetization is escalating. Prof. Gunther Schnabl heads the Institute for Economic Policy at the University of Leipzig and has held the Chair of Economic Policy and International Economic Relations there since April 2006.
In this episode, Niko takes us on an incredible journey through the crazy history of Bitcoin. And he does so with Gigi, who has "played through" Bitcoin like hardly anyone else. The two talk about attempts to ban Bitcoin that keep coming and the question of why Bitcoiners can always remain optimistic despite the headwinds. "You can rely on Bitcoin," says Gigi.
Note: The episode was recorded long before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is why the topic does not appear.
"Bitcoin's neutrality is what makes it special and a once in a lifetime occurance," says Nik Bhatia in this English interview. He talks about Bitcoin's path to becoming a global currency, the important role of gold and how Bitcoin mimics the most important properties of gold. He also goes back in time a bit:
The Austrian economist Friedrich August von Hayek already talked in 1984 about the fact that money has not been allowed to experience any innovations for a long time thanks to its appropriation by the states. On the contrary, it has been made worse and worse: "We will not get good money as long as we do not wrest it from the hands of governments. But we cannot do that by force. All we can do is introduce something in a cunning way or by indirection that they cannot stop." Nik Bhatia believes Bitcoin is that something.
In this extra episode, Niko and Luca discuss the book Layered Money and the history of the monetary system. The book offers for the first time a framework to embed Bitcoin in the evolution of money. "There is currently no better book when it comes to the history of money, the role of gold and the future of Bitcoin," says Niko. Next Tuesday, the first English-language episode will follow: an interview with author Nik Bhatia.
Natalie Enzinger is Austria's best-known crypto tax advisor and now runs a law firm with over 10 employees. To begin with, she tells us a little about her work and how she came to Bitcoin. She then goes into the changes in the new tax law, explains to what extent old stocks are affected by this regulation and talks about the effects on investors as a logical consequence.
Jan Wüstenfeld is an economist and on-chain analyst. In this episode, he talks to Niko about his assessment of the current price development of Bitcoin. He also looks at the impact of the current high inflation on the Bitcoin price and explains why long-term investors are adding to their Bitcoin portfolios right now, while speculators are pulling back. "Failure, I believe, is not going to happen for Bitcoin in the long term. I see few factors that can stop it now," says Jan in the interview.
In today's bonus episode, Niko and Luca talk about their motivation for this podcast project and explain why they do what they do. Luca is the community manager for the podcast series and currently not yet a Bitcoiner. His perspective is that of an interested crypto newbie. This fact ensures in a positive way that the topics around Bitcoin remain accessible and the questions do not become too specific.
In this first episode, YouTuber Debbi talks about her approach to Bitcoin, explains the benefits of Dollar Cost Averaging (DCA) and has a few tips for crypto newbies on top.
