The First Bitcoin Circular Economy - Arnhem City Netherlands with Patrick van der Meijde SLP556

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