Bitcoin Bundesverband

On 26 September 2024, 69 founding members gathered in the German Bundestag. This was neither a protocol change nor the creation of a new Bitcoin authority. It was a much more practical step: companies, developers and other people in the field formed an organisation that could speak to politicians and public authorities on their behalf. The first six months then looked much like building a small business from scratch—banking, membership records, documents, communication channels and a self-hosted BTCPay Server. [3]

A wallet provider worries about key security, a payment company about tax treatment, and a merchant about accounting. Their problems differ, yet legislation often sweeps every digital token into the single category of “crypto.” Bitcoin Bundesverband tries to combine these experiences and explain where a general rule collides with the way Bitcoin or Lightning Network actually works. Its mission is deliberately Bitcoin-only: it does not seek to represent the entire world of tokens, exchanges and blockchain projects. [1]

The path to ordinary association life was not entirely smooth. The first registry application ran into an older organisation with a confusingly similar name. The association described that episode in its own half-year report; its present status can be checked separately. The Bundestag lobby register lists Bitcoin Bundesverband e. V. under number R007189 and publishes both its areas of interest and the methods it uses in political work. [3] [4]

Companies and individuals may apply to join, although their roles are not identical and admission is approved by the board. The membership therefore shapes which experiences and commercial interests enter the association’s public positions. The published member list is useful precisely because it lets a reader see who stands behind the organisation. It is also a snapshot: members join and leave, and the total does not measure the whole German Bitcoin market. [2] [7]

Much of the work happens in committees and working groups. Some prepare education for citizens and politicians; others focus on payments, ESG, marketing or events. During the early months, volunteers and a limited budget carried much of the load, so an announced plan may still be far from a finished result. The clearest evidence is therefore a concrete output: a published guide, a completed event, a legislative submission or a tool that members really use. [3] [2]

Lobbying here does not mean secretly controlling Bitcoin. The association speaks with legislators and ministries, submits positions, hosts meetings and prepares studies or practical guides. Registration with the Bundestag makes that activity easier to inspect: the organisation, its interests and its declared methods are public. The register does not say that every proposal deserves adoption. That still depends on its arguments, evidence and how it stands up against the views of other affected groups. [4]

In August 2026, the association published a position on German taxation. It wants to preserve the one-year holding period after which gains on privately held bitcoin may be exempt when the legal conditions are met, and it highlights the burden created by small payments. A user paying over Lightning may also create a taxable disposal and need to know both acquisition cost and euro value at the moment of payment. The association also wants rules to distinguish a sale from a transfer between a person’s own wallets. [6]

One passage of the tax paper matters well beyond Germany. The association argues that authorities must not demand a Seed Phrase or Private Keys as proof of ownership or transaction history. Anyone who learns those secrets may be able to spend the bitcoin; handing them over is therefore not a harmless administrative formality. Evidence can instead come from transactions, signed messages or accounting records without giving away the means to control the wallet. [6]

On 26 September 2026, the general assembly elected Larry Terwey, Jens Leinert, Yvonne Strathmann, Fardad Hooghoughi and Sebastian Rehbein for the 2026–2028 term. They run the association, represent it publicly and answer for its work. They cannot alter Bitcoin’s protocol rules or order independent nodes to run particular software. That distinction separates a professional association from a decentralised network. [5] [8]

Bitcoin Bundesverband is most valuable as a record of what German Bitcoin companies are dealing with and what they want changed. Its publications need neither automatic acceptance nor automatic dismissal as advertising. The key is to know who is speaking. Statutes describe the organisation, the lobby register records its public footprint, and a position paper argues for a particular member interest. A legal or tax decision still requires the current law and, where appropriate, qualified advice. [8] [4]