{"id":105393,"date":"2025-05-08T11:38:22","date_gmt":"2025-05-08T16:38:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=105393"},"modified":"2026-01-01T16:05:27","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T22:05:27","slug":"inside-viennas-small-persistent-crypto-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/inside-viennas-small-persistent-crypto-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Vienna\u2019s small, persistent crypto community"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Janani Janarthanan<\/strong><\/p>\n

Medill Reports<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

VIENNA \u2014 The Viennese cafe Das Delicious in the 11th district was packed on a Saturday evening. Near the billing counter was a big table, with more than 10 patrons \u2014 most of them wearing glasses, all of them men clad in T-shirts and jeans. But they had more in common.<\/span><\/p>\n

One of them approached the counter, scanned a QR code from the owner\u2019s phone, paid a bill in cryptocurrency and returned to the table, much like any other digital transaction. Members at that table were cryptocurrency enthusiasts, coming from a Bitcoin meetup in the 1st district.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes there are two, three weeks when there are no Bitcoin payments, but then <\/span>suddenly there are days when five to seven people pay by Bitcoin,\u201d the <\/span>cafe\u2019s owner, Paul Music, said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Music\u2019s experience is an example of the unpredictability of crypto usage and its ownership in Vienna. Since it entered Austria in 2013, it has suffered from negative media coverage, a lack of trust, price volatility and cyber threats. According to a 2022 Austrian national bank survey, a mere 3% of the population own crypto, though legal experts and even the regulator say they feel this would be an undercount now.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Outside
Das Delicious Cafe in Vienna has a Bitcoin flag at its entrance, as of Feb. 8, 2025. (Janani Janarthanan\/MEDILL)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Aside from ownership figures, the regulatory landscape is also changing. Fully implemented since Dec. 30, the Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, often shortened to MiCA regulation or MiCAR, is an European framework that sets rules for issuance, and regulations for service providers, prompting a larger question of whether Vienna\u2019s crypto community will survive in a more scrutinized environment.<\/span><\/p>\n

If adoption remains low, Europe runs the risk of being surpassed in adoption and financial technology by the United States and Asian countries in the near future, according to Oliver V\u00f6lkel, a partner at the corporate law firm <\/span>Cerha Hempel<\/span>. He said tightening regulation could also stoke further exploration of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) which is currently outside the regulatory ambit. DeFi expands on the premise of existing cryptocurrency, providing various decentralized, peer-to-peer financial services on blockchain.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The demographic<\/b><\/h2>\n

A poll by Statistics Austria in 2024 found only 9.8% of the country\u2019s population of almost 9 million have an appetite for financial trading in the form of shares, bonds, funds, cryptocurrencies and other financial assets. This is slightly higher in Vienna at 11.5%.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAt least millennials and maybe zoomers \u2014 those who straddle the timeline between Gen Z and Millennials\u2014 are aware of different digital assets and use the ecosystem in some way,\u201d according to Ya\u00ebl Ossowski, a fellow at the Bitcoin Policy Institute and the deputy director at Consumer Choice Center. He credited some of it to cryptocurrency service providers that market digital assets favorably.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Austrian National Bank, or Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB), noted in a 2024 bulletin that a \u201cconsistent but small proportion of individuals hold modest quantities of cryptocurrency assets,\u201d averaging at 6,000 euro. It also stated these asset holders tend to be younger than the average citizen and predominantly male.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Ownership uncertainty<\/b><\/h2>\n