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“We do not invest in German companies” (and Germany’s doing everything to keep it that way). I watched Germany fumble the fintech wave, drown promising companies in BaFin paperwork, and lose half its talent to Zurich, Lisbon, Paris and London. Every founder I know has a “Germany” story straight out of the newest Kafka/Grimm collab. Rednose #1: A person that God-knows-how gets to preside over the (once, past-tense) most prestigious academic German blockchain institution. As a proud Frankfurt School of Finance & Management alumni, my toenails are curling upwards when I hear this person’s take on bitcoin, taxes, and basically the world. This guy is the prototypical fox set to “guard the geese”. An insult to foxes, who (at least in local lore) are described as “smart” if not “cunning” (maybe that fits the bill, though). Rednose #2 wants to abolish the one-year holding period that currently makes long-term crypto gains tax-free. The goal: €2 billion in new “revenue” (“revenue is theft, but taxes are a-okay”), a small drop in an ever-leaking bucket. With DAC8, centralised exchanges already report everything beginning January 2026. Abolishing §23 punishes self-custody, the one category BMF can’t see. I usually do not attribute malice when stupidity is sufficient explanation, but… “cunning”, I said? Another round of Germany proudly and loudly shooting itself in the foot while the rest of the world scoots ahead into the future. The world (excerpt): • The Czech Republic imposes zero tax after three years. • Portugal imposes zero taxes after 365 days. • Switzerland imposes no private gains tax at all. • The US just made Bitcoin a strategic reserve asset. Germany (hard to pick here without becoming cynical): • Let’s make holding Bitcoin more expensive than holding gold! • If the world moves one way (forward), let’s take two steps back! • We need money, give me yours please (except “not please”). • Kaputtmachen Alles Innovation, Ja! Ja! (Hulk smash noises) The cherry on the cake