Patrick van der Meijde, founder of BitKassa and co founder Arnhem Bitcoin City joins me to talk about his experience with co-founding one of the earliest Bitcoin ‘circular economy’ communities in 2014. 

• How he got started


• Taking payments pre-lightning


• Are there enough people spending?


• Resurgence in circular economies


• Adopting Bitcoin Arnhem City

Links:

•  X: @PatrickvdMeijde


• Site: adoptingbitcoinarnhem.com


• Site: arnhembitcoinstad.nl 


• Cofounder @BitKassaNL


• Cofounder Arnhem Bitcoin City @Bitcoinstad


• Youtube: 10 years of merchants accepting bitcoin in Arnhem  

Sponsors:

• Swan.com (code LIVERA)


• CoinKite.com (code LIVERA)


• Mempool.space

Stephan Livera Links:

• Follow me on X: @stephanlivera


• Subscribe to the podcast


• Subscribe to Substack

Chapters/Timestamps:

• 00:00 - Introduction and Background


• 01:55 - Bitcoin Narratives in 2014


• 04:45 - Transaction Fees and Challenges


• 08:46 - Arnhem Bitcoin City and its Evolution


• 09:55 - Context of Arnhem City in the Netherlands


• 11:45 - Capital Gains Tax in the Netherlands


• 12:33 - Impact of AML Regulations


• 14:13 - Merchants Keeping Bitcoin


• 15:00 - Swan.com


• 16:14 - Mempool.space


• 17:11 - Coinkite.com


• 18:40 - Merchant Churn and Turnover


• 23:35 - Importance of Local Community


• 28:55 - Adopting Bitcoin Conference in Arnhem


• 31:32 - Transition to Lightning Network


• 35:45 - Success Rates of Lightning Network Payments


• 36:30 - Improvement of Lightning Network


• 37:53 - Conclusion and Event Details