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