The D-A-CH Dash Embassy, each letter representing Deutschland (Germany), Austria, and, Confoederatio Helvetica (Switzerland) has been representing and promoting Dash in German-speaking Europe.
The D-A-CH Dash Embassy was founded just a couple months ago and only launched their website a few weeks ago. However, they have made significant progress so far being featured in three German news sites: ARD (biggest state-owned media in Germany), Handelsblatt (biggest daily financial newspaper in Germany) and WirtschaftsWoche (biggest weekly financial newspaper in Germany). Their quick progress is aided by their diverse team of two marketing and event professionals, one investor and law professional, one translator, an IT specialist, a payment specialist and a professional support person. They have also just announced a partnership with CyptoTax to educate locals on how to make paying taxes on crypto easier.
The embassy’s rapid growth demonstrates there is a large demand for understanding of cryptocurrencies and Dash within German-speaking Europe. I talked with two of their founders, Klaus Hipfinger and Jan Heinrich Meyer about about what it’s like to operate the D-A-CH Embassy.
Crypto environment in Europe
What is the general public opinion on Dash and cryptocurrencies in your countries?
“Basically very positive. You have to keep in mind that because of the past euro currency crisis the trust in the common European currency union has lost a lot of trust. There are still a lot of experts saying that the euro may not survive the next big crisis, which is already brewing in the financial system again. So people want security for their wealth and the Germans and Austrians had the bad experience with hyperinflation in the years after world war one. So this is still deep in our souls to prepare for a crisis. I even heard that old people like my grandma are starting to buy BitpandaToGo vouchers every month to have some Bitcoins for bad days. That’s really awesome!!!”
What has been the most common question that you are asked by German speaking media or individuals that don’t really understand Dash or the blockchain?
“There are very often ideological questions like: Do you think Bitcoin will survive? Do you think Bitcoin will replace the Euro currency? Isn’t this whole crypto thing only fraud and for the dark markets?
So people need to really understand the idea and technology behind crypto to think about their questions on their own and decide on it.”
What would you say are common misconceptions about cryptocurrencies and Dash in the German speaking areas?
“The illegal view on Dash, but we are already working on that hard with our PR Agency, Hoschke & Consorten. There has been some negative articles in the German press lately about Dash like we are only used by drug smugglers and other criminals. We have pointed that out with the responsible journalists. In fact they are very thankful to have real people now talking to them. Because behind most coins are just a bunch of guys. Here in Europe with the Dash Embassy D-A-CH there is a Dash service company for everyone you can ask, call soon and so reach out [to] anytime. This kind of service nature is what we need and builds trust.”
How does Dash provide real and immediate solutions to citizens of your countries?
“Dash provides the safety of a non-inflationary currency to store wealth in the long-term combined with the strength of a real global payment system, which will have a very high usability when evolution is up and running. People in Europe love and want service and so we need to provide that as easy as possible but with a solid backbone behind. We are in contact with members of the Core Team, so we can share our ideas and experience in this matter.”
The D-A-CH Dash Embassy is also planning to launch their Dash Roadshow, which includes an educational format to bring the knowledge of Dash to German speakers in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.
Dash is bridging the usability gap
Cryptocurrencies are a really new technology that has many technical and economic aspects beyond the knowledge of many consumers in the world. This is perfectly acceptable and expected as many have different specialties and cannot be expected nor assumed to know or learn the inner workings of cryptocurrencies. However, this places the burden on the new technology and its entrepreneurs to make using the new technology as easy and intuitive as possible to maximize benefits and minimize costs of adapting to the new technology.
Dash is able to leverage its large community funded through its treasury system to carry that burden. The D-A-CH Dash Embassy exemplifies this since they were able to get funded and effectively set up a beachhead in German-speaking Europe to educate consumers of the benefits of Dash, minimize the cost of learning the new technology, and debunk myths that emerge in a knowledge vacuum. Dash is further committed to this goal through its Evolution platform and continuous development to make using Dash as easy as possible for the average consumer that simply wants the benefits and not have to worry about the back-end or theoretical aspects of cryptocurrencies.
