← Coin Stories with Natalie Brunell
Coin Stories with Natalie Brunell
Matyáš Kuchař: Europe's Most Bitcoin-Friendly Country Just Changed Everything
00:30:57
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- [00:00]
A
Europe has a big problem and that's over regulation. The bureaucracy is just ridiculous. You could have paid in bitcoin in more than 1,000 restaurants until last year. Because the middle regulation just throws everything, the whole business around, it just bankrupt. But there is a light of end of the tunnel and that's what I'm trying to push people into with BTC Prague, with our conference. Because I really believe that there is a paradigm shift happening in the world.
- [00:34]
B
Hey everyone, welcome back to the show. Joining me this week is Matias Kuha, he is the co founder of BTC Prague. And I'm excited to announce that for the very first time I'm going to be joining the conference. I'm so excited. So Matthias, great to see you, thanks for having me.
- [00:50]
A
Great to see you, Natalie. Thank you for invitation and greetings to all your listeners from Czech Republic.
- [00:56]
B
Yeah, so I want to start right there. Tell us what is going on in Europe with bitcoin adoption and what's new with BTC Prague this year.
- [01:04]
A
Thank you. Well, what's new? It's like the question what I'm asking myself every day, what's new? What's the next big thing with everything? What is going on? So I mean, where should I start? I think it's good to tell that the Europe is, is broken, but there is a light of end of the tunnel. And that's what I'm trying to push people into with BTC Prague, with our conference. Because I really believe that with, with AI and it's not just about bitcoin, it's about all these other things which are speeding up. And every second day there is something new to talk about. And maybe it's just me getting older, but I feel like I'm missing a lot of stuff. So if I'm feeling like that, I believe that there are other people who need to have kind of a rudder and someone who will help them to navigate in the time of uncertainty and chaos. Because I really believe that there is a paradigm shift happening in the world with all these interesting and important technological invention in, in just in past few years. We have bitcoin, we have AI, we have nostr, we have different kind of longevity hacks and biohacks, we have genomics, robotics, we travel to space. And me as a, as a vivid history reader, I like the analogy of Industrial revolution from late 18th century and early 19th century where we saw that there were similar things happening but in the different times. So we had a steam engine, electrification, telegraph and few other very important inventions merging in a way that it really changed how the society worked. And that means that how like the everyday life of people worked and at the time they were there were people fighting against the combustion engine and about against the usage of cars. We can see some similarities today that people are fighting against AI because they are afraid of losing their job. And this is valid concern. But from my perspective, of course I can be scared or I can kind of use this opportunity to get better. So I choose to get better. And that's what we preach at BTC Prague. We have few things but we like to say that we empower individuals, we build the bitcoin bridges and in the future you will need a full tool set of of important stuff, not only bitcoin as the best money in the world. So this is not saying that we are kind of opening the gate to everything at BTC Prague. We are hardcore bitcoin conference bitcoin only. But we see that many bitcoiners are interested in the other stuff like parenting, like healthy lifestyle, building a citadel, like prepping and plan B passports, AI, cloud code, nostr, you name it, art, music, all these other stuff which are super interesting and important if we want to keep a culture and build the world we envision. And for that we have actually started a new track which is called Bitcoin Living Masterclass and it's on Thursday and it will focus on all these topics. So for all these bitcoiners who are kind of who moved on and they feel like their passion switched from bitcoin to other stuff, we have a track for them.
- [05:09]
B
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- [07:17]
A
Well, there is not the bitcoin reserve but. Great observation, Natalie. Yes, we have a bitcoin. Czech national bank governor Alex Mikhail. He will be, he will be probably speaking at our conference. I can't, I can't tell you more now, but the things are happening really fast and that's why I'm so hopeful. You know, like little side story, I was going to live abroad. I was going for a second, second residency, second citizenship. We were decided, we were, we decided with my family to move out because the hostile condition in Europe and in Czech Republic. But things have changed rapidly and now after a few years of negotiation with politics, politicians and lobbying, things have changed from this hostile territory towards a very friendly Bitcoin country. And we can see now with MICA regulation which was put into action last year, mid last year, we now see so many different companies from different countries applying in Czech Republic. So like maybe triple or quadruple more than in surrounding countries, in our neighboring countries. And that's kind of a signal that it's working. And the story I told about myself, it's very common in Czech because The people will always go where they treat them well. And I think the Czech Republic is setting a very nice example in Europe and hopefully the other countries will follow because if you don't treat your citizen well and if you are not creating the conditions for entrepreneurs, innovative people, people who drive the economy, the people will just go away. It's not possible this, to keep people inside the country. In the time when you just pay for a flight ticket and the next day you are on the other side of the planet, you know, all these are over and we should act like that.
- [09:27]
B
So if I were to walk down the streets of Prague and start to ask people about bitcoin, would a lot of them know what it is? Do the businesses accept bitcoin? Like what, what's happening on the streets?
- [09:40]
A
Yeah, well, you know, yes, of course. Like bitcoin is, I would say bitcoin is penetrated very well big time in Czech Republic. Like you, you, you could have paid in more than 1,000 restaurants until last year because the mica regulation just throwed rocks under our, under our legs. Because yeah, the, the Europe has a big problem and that's over regulation.
- [10:08]
B
It's.
- [10:08]
A
The bureaucracy is just ridiculous. You know, it doesn't make any sense. They are just making things harder for, for people who want to live productive life. But to answer your questions, I think that if you ask on the street, most of the people know what bitcoin is, but they still living in the time that it's some, some kind of a bubble. Perhaps it's boiling oceans, perhaps it's for illicit use cases. So the public is still not orange built. But we have more than 1 million, that's the best estimation. We have more than 1 million Bitcoin and crypto users from 10 million inhabitants in total. So that's a very good percentage, very good penetration. The biggest bitcoin channel on YouTube has more than 100,000 followers. Bitcoin only. So that's 1% of people already following some kind of a hardcore bitcoin content. If you go to bitcoin meetups, every city has one and you find there 12, 15 to 20, 30 people on the regular basis on the local small meetups. And our Czech conference had more than 2,000 attendees already in year 2022, just before we started BTC Prague. So Czech Republic is really something like if you, if you compare it with other countries and it's not just my Czech, Czech spirit talking now, I think that it's because of the history and like I've been, I've been raised As a kind of not anarcho capitalist full time. But my father always told me to build power system and be prepared for bad times because they've been born in communist time and they live through the communist time and they never dreamed about escaping that word and it happened. So we are the first generation who live freely and I think that's why we take very seriously all these things around what, what can happen in the future. And we like to build parallel. We would like to stay kind of disconnected and not under the control of the nanny state. And even the politicians, they understand it because they also, they also lived in the time and no one really, no one liked it.
- [12:46]
B
Yeah, I can relate to that. As someone who's kind of first generation post my family's Polish communist experience, I totally understand. What was it that you mentioned about the. Is it mica regulation? It's preventing people from using Bitcoin. Like can you explain what's happening?
- [13:04]
A
Yeah. So there is, inside the mica regulation there is this rule where every merchant needs to kyc the payer. It wasn't like that until last year. So you could just walk into bar restaurant and pay with your Lightning wallet and the merchant received the bitcoin. But now because most of the Lightning wallets are non kyc, you can use them. So because like there is this regulatory hurdle, people just stopped paying and the whole business around it just bankrupt. Yeah.
- [13:46]
B
Wow. So so you basically, if you walk into a store or a restaurant that would accept Bitcoin, you have to use a KYC wallet or now they won't accept Bitcoin at all.
- [13:59]
A
Now they won't accept Bitcoin at all. Because the services who were offering the service for merchants, the products, the wallets which were kind of very easy to use. And as a merchant you could, you could choose if you accept Bitcoin and if then you split Bitcoin into two stacks and you perhaps keep 10% and the 90% went to your bank account to cover your, your, your expenses. So that was a really great service and product from one Czech company and they just shut down because they were not able to sustain and you. And they choose to not push people to kyc.
- [14:40]
B
That's such a bummer. So this is across all of Europe,
- [14:45]
A
I think. So I'm not an expert on, on regulation, so just don't take my word for granted. But I think it is. I think it is.
- [14:55]
B
Wow, that's. It's so sad to see. I mean I feel like we made so many advancements forward but now we're taking a couple steps back and Europe is somewhere I've been concerned about because when I've seen some of the policymakers, their proposals, their pushback, it has been so draconian. They don't understand bitcoin. They don't understand bitcoin's energy use. And Europe right now, I mean, isn't there very, very deep and legitimate concerns just about energy in general, the cost of things like fuel and gas and, and you guys are dealing with inflation rates that are high too?
- [15:36]
A
Oh well, Czech Republic is again quite well on the spectrum. Like of course we, we feel the energy prices and the petrol prices are just higher every year. But the countries like Germany or England. England has the most expensive energy in the world and it's liquidational for most of families like and now so, so perhaps like it's because of just of the war in the Middle east and, but, but I feel like there is something even more into it because it's ridiculously stupid to shut down some, some power plants which were absolutely fine and working. That happened in Germany actually.
- [16:31]
B
Oh yeah, they got rid of all their nuclear.
- [16:33]
A
Yeah, yeah. And in Czech. Fortunately we, we've never did these stupid things like even with, with, with like, like bad immigration. We kind of, I feel like, I feel like we are, we are kind of on the top of the game with, with all these, all these decisions and we are in the European Union but we still have our Czech Corona and the governor of Czech national bank is hardcore investment banker so he understands how to tackle the inflation and even though he is a Keynesian economist, he, I think that he understand Austrian Economic school and he's applying this quite well. So the inflation is high but it's not double digit and I think that they are trying to keep it, keep it as low as possible so it could be worse. And if you have a bitcoin in a self custody you can sleep well.
- [17:33]
B
If you've been listening for a while, you've probably heard us talk about bitkey. Bitkey is a private multisig wallet that removes the biggest point of failure in traditional self custody. The seed phrase. Things get lost, phones get replaced, life happens. Right. BitKey is designed so your bitcoin stays secure and recoverable without demanding constant attention or expertise. Use code stories for 20% off at Bitkey World. You've heard you should take your bitcoin off of exchanges, but it all sounds so technical. My friends at the Bitcoin way have helped me and they can help you too. From one on one training to 100% self custody to straightforward cybersecurity to tools. It doesn't have to be complicated. Go to thebitcoinway.com Natalie to schedule a free call. I hope to see all of you in Las Vegas for Bitcoin 2026. We'll be celebrating five years of women of Bitcoin with a special evening bash. And we've got to give a big shout out to our title sponsor Mara. And I'll be signing copies of Bitcoin is for everyone at the Bitcoin bazaar. Use code HODL for discounted passes and I will see you this April. Finally, Bitcoin IRA. With Bitcoin IRA you can invest in Bitcoin24.7 inside a tax advantaged IRA. Choose a traditional IRA to defer taxes or a Roth IRA for tax free withdrawals. When you retire, take control of your Future with Bitcoin IRA. Head to Bitcoin IRA.com Natalie for up to a $1,000 funding bonus. Okay, so let's talk a little bit more about the conference because again I haven't been before but I've heard amazing things. So this is the largest bitcoin only conference in Europe, right?
- [19:09]
A
Yes, yes, thank you. Good segue. It is the largest. It's, it's, it's not that big like Vegas. It's probably like one third big. So 8,000 people, 250 speakers, four stages, three days long. It's, it's in summertime. So Prague, a very historical, beautiful city is like a little Paris. It's medieval.
- [19:36]
B
And you have Michael Saylor returning for what, the fourth year?
- [19:39]
A
Yes, yes.
- [19:40]
B
He must really like it.
- [19:42]
A
He love it. He loves it. Yeah, he always walked the Charles Bridge and he really enjoys the time in Prague. And it's not only Michael Saylor. We have all big, big guns like Jack Mallers, Jeff Booth, yourself, Natalie, Sam and then Jack Cruz. And yeah, like look at webpage like you can scroll for five minutes and just be, just be, just, just be looking at the program. It will tell you that it, everyone will find something interesting. Pretty much the program is split into four stages. We have one stage only for Czech people because we are onboarding a lot of people from Prague. And then we have three stages. One is like a beginner friendly. The second one is a main stage where we go into all kind of topics with panels, fireside chats, keynotes. And then we have a VIP stage in the VIP arena where there are fireside chats with just the best speakers with an option to have a, to, to ask a question. With the Q and A sessions. And that's something what is really exciting and really exclusive because you're sitting just few meters from those speakers and then usually the, the talk is like for 20, 30 minutes and then the speakers sit down, make a circle and just Talk for another 40 or 50 minutes with the people. So this is kind of special. And it's not just about the conference, you know, like, yeah, you can, you can watch the talks afterwards on online, we publish everything. But the people you meet there are hardcore. And especially now because it's a bear market, you can expect only the true believers there. And you know the saying like 10,000 hours, right? 10,000 hours to master everything. It's true. If you, if you want to learn English, you pay you, you can learn by yourself or you pay for a teacher, you invest and it will speed up your process. If you like to learn playing guitar, you pay for a teacher, you pay for lessons. With Bitcoin is the same thing. You can spend 10,000 hours watching YouTube videos or you pay for a ticket for BTC Prague. You fly over the ocean, you enjoy your time and in three days you get like 150 hours time times some multi. Multiplicator. Because the thing that you are surrounded by the people, it gives you the conviction. It's not just about the knowledge and the technicalities. It gives you the conviction that this is the real thing. Seeing the people around yourself, asking the questions, meeting people from all around the world, from different cultures, and everyone is using bitcoin in some kind of a badass way. And it's about the other things. So meeting people, I think that's the real asset on the way towards hyper bitcoinization. Because we need friends, we need a strong pack of wolves, so to say, you know, Dunbar number, it's a real thing. You need a really great people around yourself for building the future together with others. You know, the future we envision, the bright future, not the dark future.
- [23:10]
B
Yeah, that's very well said. I mean, that's been the most valuable part of attending bitcoin conferences for me is just getting to meet people in person. There's something so different about those connections and the friendships that you make, the jobs that you can get out of it. You can create a career like I did, because of course today you can zoom with anyone, but it's not the same. And getting to know people outside of the conference, at the various events and having dinner and meeting their spouse, houses like all of that, it does really mean so much. And so one thing That I did want to ask you is, again, I feel like we have hardcore audiences. They've been to the conferences. They've. They've attended. Maybe now they feel like, okay, I've. I've been going to a lot of them, sell them on this one. Like, why, if you've already been to some of the bitcoin conferences, why would you come back? Or why would you go to the, you know, to this in particular?
- [24:06]
A
Yeah, well, okay. I think for me personally, the networking is the most valuable thing. The people you meet there, it's really important because in future you will need people around the world who will act like a trust bridge. So imagine that something will be happening in your city in Italy, and I. I will see some disaster on the. On the Twitter. I don't need to verify this deep fake. I just ask you and you tell me. Come on. No, Relax, Matthias. It's a deep fake. And you can do the same thing with me and with. With other people. So I'm trying to invite people from all kind of the. All parts of world. We have people from all continents from pretty much like, I don't know, like, 85 countries. And because I want this to be very, very colorful and very. I want to connect the word. We are building bitcoin bridges. That's our motto. And you need the bridges for the future. You start with a handshake, with a smile, with eye contact. And then you find out if the person is valuable for you and if you are valuable for this person, and you start from there. And like, I mean, everyone you talk to is a great person. At BTC Prague, I really love the community. Of course, it's mostly Europeans. It's like 90% Europeans and 10% the others. But that's good. I mean, if you're coming from far away, you will definitely enjoy the vibe. It's summer, it's during the day, it's very intense. It's education, it's networking. But in the evening, it's a party. We have a really great Czech beer and. And there will be a lot, a lot, a lot of ladies as well, because we are organizing this Women in Bitcoin event together. And you are helping us. You are supporting us, Natalie. So thank you very much. And so there will be. There will be four. There will be something for everyone. I wanted to say.
- [26:22]
B
I love that. Well, that's what I was going to say next, that we're going to have a Women of Bitcoin event. So if you love that, if you've been to other Women of Bitcoin events. BTC Prague has one for you. I will be there. I'm super, super excited about it. All right, well, as we start to wrap up, anything else you want to share? Also, why don't we get your favorite spots in Prague for those folks that are going to be coming in maybe a couple days before or staying after. Like, where should we go eat? What should we make sure to do? I know there's a beautiful clock tower. The castle. Right. Like, what should people do in Prague?
- [26:56]
A
Yeah, well, the city center, the old town is just so beautiful. It's medieval. It was built in 13th century. So just walk the city. It's a. I think in one or two days you can pretty much walk the whole historical city. Don't forget to go to Charles Bridge. That's like, I've been there like 100 times and it's always like stunning. It's, it's, it's mind blowing what the people were able to do in the time. It's mind blowing. So go to the Prague Castle. Go to the hill. There is a watchtower. And the city is not that big. That's a perfect size because you can really, as a tourist go through the most important and interesting historical stuff all in one day. The food is great and Czech Republic is very cost effective. So if you compare it with the US and with the US Conference, I think for one VIP ticket to Vegas, you can have a family trip with a return ticket to Czech Republic.
- [28:03]
B
What is your favorite restaurant?
- [28:06]
A
Oh, right. Yeah. I should say some really typical Czech. I really love restaurant minutes. Or George. George. I'm a steak lover, so I would say. Yeah, George, steak. You caught me off the guard with restaurants. I should know that. Yeah. You know, there are some. There are this kind of a typical Czech buffets where you go and they have kind of like all kind of salami pastrami and you just, you just pick with your finger and they do. And they do a really, really nice sandwich for you. It's like super high quality, different kind of meats with sauces. So if you are coming from, from far away, I would go, I would go to really one of those pubs where you actually stay when you eat and you, you drink a beer. It's kind of a typical. And, and that's, that's the, that's the right experience. Or you can go to high, high level gastronomy restaurants. They are, they're all over the place.
- [29:11]
B
That's awesome. Yeah. You know, Czech food is pretty similar to Polish food. So I love it. It's very comforting. I. I personally love that kind of cuisine, so. Well, I'm excited to head out there. It's gonna come fast at us. It's June 11th through the 13th, right? You can still get tickets. Head to btcprog.com they recently dropped the agenda. We're so excited. Matias, any final thoughts?
- [29:34]
A
Well, thank you, Natalie, again for having the inviting me and talking to me. I really appreciate the option to invite all of your listeners to Prague and I'm pretty sure they will be super happy and they will feel the value coming to Prague. And if you have any questions, just hit me up. I'm on x Matthias m a t y a s 44 Cook and I will be happy to read the messages and always answer everything.
- [30:07]
B
Perfect. Well, get your tickets discounted. Passes are with the code Hodl. Hodl. We look forward to seeing you in the Czech Republic. And Matish can't wait to see you in person. See you soon.
- [30:19]
A
Thank you. See you.
- [30:21]
B
Thank you so much for checking out this episode of Coin Stories. Make sure you're subscribed to the show so you don't miss any new episodes. If you can, turn on those notifications and leave us a positive review, they really help the show grow organically with new listeners. We have a free weekly newsletter. You can sign up at thenewsblock. Substack.
- [30:39]
A
Com.
- [30:39]
B
This show is for educational and entertainment purposes only. Nothing should constitute as financial investment advice, and you should always do your own research. I'm always open to feedback and guest suggestions, so please feel free to reach my team at info at talkingbitcoin. Com. I'll see you next time.