Although bitcoin was a new concept in the early 2010s, its status has immensely changed in Germany since. In early 2018, a survey regarding Germans’ awareness of bitcoin was published. It turns out that almost two-thirds of Germans were aware of bitcoin. That’s quite an astounding number for a population then!
Not only is a lot of Germans aware of bitcoin, but Berlin is also considered to be the bitcoin capital of Europe (first dubbed by the Guardian in 2013). In Berlin, one can use bitcoin to buy an apartment, book vacations, eat and drink in a number of trendy bars, and even pay for tuition.
Who is AET?
As the Germans are big players in bitcoin trades, Paxful was able to link up with AET, one of Germany’s finest vendors on the platform, and ask about his thoughts on the way Germany views bitcoin, the potential of bitcoin, and what he thinks of Paxful.
On Paxful, AET has a stellar reputation with 591 trade partners and 576 positive feedback as of February 2020. So far, he has only received negative feedback from one user. He usually trades between 10 and 50 dollars worth of bitcoin and is trusted by over 90 people on Paxful. He specializes in bank transfer trades, so if you are looking for a vendor in this type of trade, check him out.
How AET got into bitcoin trading
AET, otherwise known as Alex, first got into bitcoin in 2015. As an environmental engineer, he is fascinated by decentralized infrastructure and happened to stumble upon bitcoin–a decentralized currency–while watching YouTube videos.
“The idea of decentralized and autonomous systems and organizations is really fascinating to me. Building systems from the bottom up instead of having hierarchies and pockets of economies that can trade with each other is pretty cool.”
It was interesting to see how much someone can be so interested in bitcoin technology. Alex has many wonders and fascinations about bitcoin and you can tell how passionate he is about it.
“Now I see the real value of bitcoin as a stable deflationary money that cannot be controlled by anyone. I’m not sure how these altcoins and ICOs affect the deflationary value of bitcoin, but from what I see, if you just look at bitcoin, it can help not only the economy but also the environment if you really think about it.”
When asked about who his cryptocurrency idol is, he immediately said Andreas Antonopoulos, a Greek-British bitcoin advocate that hosts broadcasts, lectures, and has written multiple books on the topic. Besides, Alex has found listening to a variety of podcasts to be very helpful in predicting bitcoin’s future price trends. Research always plays a vital part in crypto trading, thus Alex keeps himself updated with daily news and developments of the industry through sites like Cointelegraph and Coindesk.
When Alex first started trading, no one in Germany had even heard about bitcoin. When he asked people about it, the responses were always “I don’t know what that is” or “sounds crazy.” However, the perception of bitcoin changed when bitcoin started making its way into mainstream news. Now that the price has dropped since its intense surge in late 2017, Alex said that people have become more realistic and know more about how this cryptocurrency works.
Why AET loves trading on Paxful and nowhere else
Alex’s first-ever significant purchase of bitcoin was done on Paxful via Western Union. We say significant here because Alex had previously tried using other platforms, however, those platforms left such little impression on him that he couldn’t even recall their names! Ever since he made the switch to Paxful, he hasn’t looked back. According to Alex, Paxful offers great deals.
“Before Paxful, I used other exchanges and I was basically gambling with my bitcoin. On Paxful, I was able to make a lot of money using gift cards. If you learn how to reduce scammers, Paxful is overall a good thing and I’m not going to give up on it.”
In particular, Alex prefers trading with African vendors. He feels that among all participating countries on Paxful, vendors from Africa present the least number of scammers. As all that Alex looks for on Paxful is to do honest business, he really appreciates the African market for showing him that there are many other honest traders out there.
AET also loves Paxful for its charitable efforts
On the other hand, Alex is very proud of the charity work being done in Africa by Paxful. He even added suggestions to how the charity program could be more beneficial to those in need in Africa. For example, he thinks that sometimes people overlook the cleanliness of water wells in Africa. With his environmental engineering expertise, he suggested that a sanitation system be made to prevent water from getting polluted. He also recommended a few other programs that Paxful can possibly look into.
“Try helping communities with decentralized energy such as solar or wind energy. Building schools and implementing good education is important, but sanitation is also important. I mean, everybody has a toilet right? If you pollute the ground and thus polluting the groundwater, then that’s not good.”
AET discusses bitcoin’s future
Although bitcoin’s future may be uncertain, Alex remains hopeful that it will continue to be a mainstream digital currency and that it will still be a major player in trading on Paxful. Alex is aware that politicians may not be big fans of bitcoin, but he hopes that more countries, especially developing countries, will adopt it as a day-to-day currency. If possible, with a lightning network, too! He firmly believes that bitcoin can help the underbanked and even more people across the world if it reaches mass adoption.
“Obviously, there are pros and cons [with trading bitcoin]. For example, there are people who take advantage of it being irreversible such as hackers and scammers; but a pro is that people can learn how to be responsible with their own money. If something happens with your money in the bank, it’s up to the bank [to decide what to do]with your money. If you hold bitcoin, YOU decide.”
Before wrapping up the interview, we asked Alex what advice he would give to those just starting out in crypto,
“Learn. Learn before you throw yourself into it. Buy a little bit, then play around with the coins first. See what you can do with it. Ask yourself questions. If you get into bitcoin, why? What’s your goal? If you get into cryptocurrencies just to watch and speculate, then it’s not unique in that way. You have to be able to see the uniqueness of bitcoin, not just speculate.”
From the get-go, we could feel Alex’s passion for bitcoin/crypto as it emanated from the way he spoke about it. He’s a very gentle and honest guy, and Paxful is proud to have him as a vendor. Alex is the perfect example of someone who got into bitcoin for technology, not just the money.
Buying and selling bitcoin on Paxful is extremely easy and intuitive. If you have any questions, feel free to roam through our knowledge base that provides in-depth answers to frequently asked questions.
