Annual Review 2019 Part 1: Germany goes Bitcoin!

December 11, 2019

Although a lot of exciting things about Bitcoin and Co happened around the globe in 2019, in today's first part of our annual review series we take a special look at Germany, which this year seems to have finally awakened from its crypto slumber .

The sensational news 2019

It was THE surprise in the Crypto-Space 2019, which caused a sensation not only in Europe: We already reported in detail in our article of December 4th, 2019 about the mad news that all German banks will be allowed to store and trade crypto currencies from 2020 .

Today we shed light on some of the essential reasons for this decision, which are no less exciting than the decision itself:

We read almost every week about the immense pressure to innovate and that more and more German companies want to position themselves in the future blockchain market. While some have been dealing with the matter for a long time, such as the software giant SAP, numerous other big names appeared on the scene in 2019, such as Deutsche Telekom, which announced its broad-based blockchain project called “German Blockchain Ecosystem” at the end of October.

And our exchanges are no longer sleeping either: In 2019, the Stuttgart Stock Exchange opened the first regulated crypto trading platform in Germany, where investors can trade euros for Bitcoin and other coins without an intermediary broker.

Germany is researching

However, 2019 not only gave birth to numerous new blockchain players, it was also a year of intensive blockchain research in Germany, which produced numerous broad-based studies on the subject of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies:

For example, a risk analysis published in October by the German Federal Ministry of Finance came to the conclusion that cryptocurrencies have so far only been used to a very limited extent for money laundering and terrorist financing and are significantly less suitable than the more common methods in this area (above all, the use of cash ).

Last year, the Bayerische Landesbank dealt particularly intensively with Bitcoin as the number 1 crypto currency and not only comes up with a forecast of 90,000 US dollars for the next year: Based on the stock-to-flow model on which the study is based, the institute even comes up with it to the realization that Bitcoin will very soon be superior to gold.

Quotes from the study:

“So it becomes clear: Bitcoin is designed as ultra-hard money. In 2024 (when another halving is pending) the degree of hardness will continue to increase mercilessly to a level unprecedented in human history (Stock to Flow over 100!)“

"Historically, the asset with the highest stock-to-flow ratio was always used as money, as it enabled the best value transfer over time."

Politics is raging over crypto

The latest European policy impulses from Brussels and Paris should also be mentioned as a further positive factor when it comes to crypto adaptation at bank level:

While the Chinese central bank PBoC has been promoting its own digital currency for a long time, France is now also planning to be one of the first countries to introduce a digital central bank currency.

As early as the first quarter of 2020, French financial institutions will have the opportunity to test a digital euro, and the French finance and economics minister, Bruno Le Maire, called for a common European digital currency at a meeting of the EU on this basis create.

Whether you are an opponent of the euro or a supporter of the fact that these measures will most likely have a very positive effect on general crypto adaptation can only be dismissed with difficulty, which should make every crypto fan optimistic.

Also beneficial, especially for Bitcoin: digital central bank currencies are considered the final step in the course of the abolition of cash decided by the European Commission, which is above all Because of its special design, Bitcoin ultimately makes it one of the last alternatives for those who want to defend themselves against negative interest rates, fee increases and unrestricted data collection from banks.