Slovenia establishes Bitcoin Association to promote Bitcoin and blockchain technology

Jure Pirc is the president of the Bitcoin Association Slovenia, a non-profit organization dedicated to raising awareness of Bitcoin and blockchain technology. Bitcoin and blockchain are not banned in Slovenia, but the government remains skeptical of this innovative technology. The main reason is the lack of awareness of the technology. Pirc spoke to Cointelegraph about the problems of the Slovenian cryptocurrency market and how the Bitcoin Association is trying to address them.

CoinTelegraph: How does the Bitcoin Association plan to promote Bitcoin in Slovenia?

JP:

First, we want to promote Bitcoin as a currency and technology to the general public in our country, and then we will go a step further and introduce this technology to our government. I think this is the best option, because Slovenia is a small country with only 2 million inhabitants.

For example, if 100,000 people have Bitcoin wallets with at least some Satoshis in them, the government will have no choice but to accept it. Officials will also accept Bitcoin after seeing that everyone is using it. Then - and only then - they will start communicating with us to raise their own awareness of Bitcoin. Currently, we have 9,000 to 10,000 people using Bitcoin.

Our government is conservative, so you can’t just call them up and invite them to a meeting on blockchain. The fact is, if you don’t have access to the decision-makers, you can’t implement blockchain technology. Only people can convince them to take it seriously.

CT: What about banks? Will they be friendly to Bitcoin entrepreneurs?

JP:

They are not friendly. If you want to open a business account for a Bitcoin company, the bank may refuse to serve you. But if you want to open an account that has nothing to do with Bitcoin, you can create the account without any problems.

In such cases, you may need to come up with a name for your startup that is not directly related to Bitcoin. Otherwise, the bank may get suspicious. They will start checking your account, and the end result is that your account will be blocked. For example, one of our banks blocked the account of Bitnik, a Bitcoin ATM operator. So they went to another smaller bank and opened an account there, because small banks seem to be more open to innovation.

Maybe that’s why startups choose to register outside Slovenia. We have 7 Bitcoin startups — Grecom, Krip.to, Reload.bitnik.eu and Bitnik — registered in Slovenia. The other three — Cashila, Bistamp.net and Gatehub.net — are registered in the UK.

CT: How many retailers in Slovenia actually accept Bitcoin?

JP:

There are actually a lot of them. We know of about 40-70 retailers that accept Bitcoin. And that covers almost every industry except grocery stores and gas stations.

CT: Do you organize any educational outreach for non-Bitcoin community members or do you invite them to participate in your activities?

JP:

We don't organize events specifically for them. But we do have public meetups. We don't invite anyone to the meetups but they are open, so anyone can come. Also, they are publicly announced and well-publicized. So non-Bitcoin users can come if they are interested.

We used to have two public gatherings a year. This year we have already had four public gatherings, and I am planning to have one more in December before Christmas.

The efforts of the Bitcoin Association in Slovenia have been effective in raising awareness of Bitcoin and blockchain and forcing the government to embrace these innovative technologies. People are starting to use Bitcoin, retailers are supporting cryptocurrencies, and it’s only a matter of time before government officials start attending the association’s events for more than just free coffee and muffins.

Original article: http://cointelegraph.com/news/115735/jure-pirc-we-promote-bitcoin-and-blockchain-for-common-users-in-slovenia-to-make-government-adopt-it
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