My experience at BTC Prague and its Insights
5 days in Prague are behind me. For 3 days I was at BTC Prague, the biggest Bitcoin conference in Europe.
In short, I was extremely impressed. Super organized, great speakers, exciting participants, and a fantastic vibe.
It’s impressive to see how many Bitcoiners there are, working every day to further its development. It has been demonstrated how well Lightning payments work, definitively debunking the myth that Bitcoin is not a means of payment, since almost exclusively Lightning payments were accepted.
For some time now, I have been supporting the establishment of balanced regulation in Germany. Bitcoin must not be restricted, which is challenging but not impossible anyway. Like AI, Bitcoin also needs to be promoted to support its innovative power. This way, Germany, as well as Europe, can become pioneers.
Personally, I would be pleased if politicians would pay more attention to the topic. There are only a few who take the time to try to understand Bitcoin. It is, of course, a complex subject if one wants to delve into it as deeply as possible, thus requiring a significant time investment. So far, in Germany, I have only met Frank Schäffler, who gives the necessary priority to the topic, and has been doing so for many years.
One recurring topic is the enormous energy consumption of Bitcoin mining. This is undeniable, but there are many studies showing the proportion of renewable energy used. Many argue that Bitcoin mining accelerates the urgently needed energy transition. I share this opinion. A political solution could be to only allow Bitcoin mining with renewable energy. However, this would naturally need to happen at the G20 or global level, which is unfortunately currently very unlikely.
To drive the adoption of Bitcoin, it is necessary to strengthen education on the one hand. Fortunately, there are already many excellent initiatives in this regard. But the acceptance of Bitcoin or Lightning payments must also increase. Payments are already very easy through, for example, the Wallet of Satoshi, Bitcoin Beach Wallet (Blink), or the Phoenix Wallet.
With the Bitcoin Ring Bolt, you can also make NFC payments through Lightning. For this to happen, it is necessary for payment terminals, and especially for Apple, to open up their NFC interface for this purpose.
I also have a tip for all central banks, especially the Deutsche Bundesbank: Instead of buying gold, buy Bitcoin!
My highlights in Prague
1. NFC payments with Lightning through the Bitcoin Ring. Especially since almost only Lightning payments are accepted on BTC Prague.
2. Conversation with Dr. Saifedean Ammous incl. autograph of his latest book Principles of Economics, Giacomo Arcaro, Knut Svanholm and many more.
3. Satoshi Rokomoto at Futurm with Knut Svanholm and Giacomo Zucco among others as rock legends.
4. To see how strong the German community is represented in Prague and although I had problems with Bitcoin Toxis in the past, I had only super nice and pleasant conversations.
I’m already looking forward to the next Bitcoin conference, Honeybadger 2023 in Riga. And I already know today that I will visit BTC Prague again next year.
Remarks
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Philipp J.A. Hartmannsgruber holds a master’s degree in Finance & Accounting. He is a Board Member of the Blockchain Bundesverband (Bundesblock). In 2019 he founded PJAH Consulting, a bitcoin-consultancy.
