The discussion titled "Bitcoin: Revolution or Risk" took place at the Munich Press Club, 24. September 2025.
The event was moderated by Konstanze von Hassel, a board member of the Munich Press Club, and featured two key guests: Rachel Geier, President of the European Bitcoin Association and Vice President/Spokesperson at Terrahash, and Holger Wolf, CEO of the IT company Malborn Wolf.
The introduction began with a historical journey of Bitcoin, noting its origins following the 2008 financial crisis and the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Key milestones included the registration of the domain bitcoin.org and the publication of Satoshi Nakamoto’s whitepaper in 2008, the mining of the Genesis Block in January 2009, and Bitcoin's recent surge above $100,000 (or €100,000).
The moderator noted her personal interest in the topic was sparked by the issue of energy efficiency in Europe, specifically connecting Bitcoin mining to potentially consuming surplus grid power, citing €4 billion in annual redispatch costs.
The event was structured around initial impulse presentations from Rachel Geier and Holger Wolf, followed by a joint discussion and audience Q&A.
Rachel Geier's impulse focused on her core insight that Bitcoin is Energy Money, while Holger Wolf’s impulse provided detailed explanations of the network, mining, and Bitcoin's value proposition.
Source:
Audio deepdive (20min)
Executive Summary
Key Insights from the 'Bitcoin: Revolution or Risk' Symposium
1.0 Introduction: Setting the Stage for Bitcoin's Future
The Munich Press Club event, "Bitcoin: Revolution or Risk," convened expert analysis to address the cryptocurrency's transition from a niche "internet money" to a subject of serious financial and industrial consideration.
The discussion's strategic importance was underscored by Bitcoin's recent surge past the €100,000 mark, prompting a re-evaluation of its role in the global economy.
Moderator Konstanze von Hassel framed the conversation by tracing Bitcoin's evolution from a theoretical concept to a major asset class.
This historical journey, as presented at the event, highlights key milestones in Bitcoin's development:
- August 18, 2008: The domain
bitcoin.orgis registered by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto, just weeks before the collapse of Lehman Brothers. - January 3, 2009: Nakamoto mines the first block of the Bitcoin blockchain, the "Genesis Block," embedding a pointed message from The Times: "Chancellor on Brink of Second Bailout for Banks."
- May 22, 2010: The first real-world transaction occurs, with 10,000 BTC exchanged for two pizzas.
- February 2011: 1 Bitcoin achieves parity with the US dollar for the first time.
- December 5, 2024: The price of a single Bitcoin exceeds $100,000, marking a significant psychological and financial milestone (as prospectively framed by the event's moderator).
The symposium featured two expert speakers offering distinct but complementary perspectives:
Rachel Geier, President of the European Bitcoin Association, and Holger Wolf, CEO of the IT company Malborn Wolf.
Their insights moved the discussion from Bitcoin's history to its practical applications and underlying mechanics.
This summary will first explore Rachel Geier's industrial thesis, which positions Bitcoin as a potential solution to Europe's most pressing energy challenges.
2.0 The Industrial Thesis: Bitcoin as a Solution for Europe's Energy Trilemma
Rachel Geier fundamentally reframed the Bitcoin debate, pivoting away from speculative finance to present a compelling industrial thesis.
Her argument repositions Bitcoin as a pragmatic tool for solving Europe's entrenched "energy trilemma" - the challenge of balancing sustainability, affordability, and security.
Geier argued that Bitcoin's potential is often misunderstood because, like the proverbial elephant examined by blind men, its nature depends entirely on one's perspective.
Geier deconstructed the Bitcoin narrative, identifying three distinct use-cases based on regional needs:
- For citizens in economies experiencing hyperinflation, such as Lebanon and Venezuela, it serves as a stable alternativedespite its volatility relative to fiat currencies.
- For the world's unbanked population, a group disproportionately composed of women, it offers a pathway to financial access with just a mobile phone and minimal internet connectivity.
- For investors in privileged regions like Europe, it functions as "digital gold," a store-of-value asset held alongside traditional stocks and ETFs.
Geier’s own journey into Bitcoin was driven by a tangible, personal problem.
Initially introduced to the asset by her son, she later recognized its potential to address her own pension concerns after her statement revealed a projected monthly income of just €503.77.
This personal encounter with financial precarity - a direct consequence of the existing monetary system - provided the lens through which she now views Bitcoin not just as an asset, but as essential infrastructure for individual sovereignty and, by extension, a solution for systemic problems like energy.
The core of Geier's argument is that Bitcoin mining, when viewed as a "flexible data center," provides the "missing puzzle piece" for integrating renewable energy into the European grid.
She outlined its unique capabilities:
- Grid Stability: Bitcoin mining operations can be instantly switched on or off, helping network operators maintain the required grid stability.
- Monetizing Surplus Energy: By consuming excess power that would otherwise be curtailed, mining allows renewable energy producers (such as farmers with solar installations) to generate revenue, thereby reducing the "redispatch costs" ultimately borne by taxpayers.
- Decarbonized Heat: The mining process is remarkably efficient in converting energy, producing a 1:1 ratio of heat output for every unit of electricity input, creating a valuable source of recycled, decarbonized heat.
- Unique Operational Flexibility: Mining is interruptible, geographically independent, highly price-sensitive (only profitable with low-cost electricity), and modular, allowing for deployments ranging from a few kilowatts to several megawatts.
Geier illustrated these concepts with real-world examples from Terrahash, the company where she serves as Vice President. Projects include a factory in East Germany using an oversized solar array to power its operations and a mining container, and the "Genesis" site in Finland, which recycles waste heat from its mining operations to serve local industrial and residential heating networks.
Geier's focus on the industrial utility of Bitcoin mining provides a practical grounding for Holger Wolf's subsequent deep-dive into the economic incentives and technological framework that make such applications not just possible, but profitable.
3.0 The Technological Framework: Demystifying Bitcoin's Mechanics and Value Proposition
Holger Wolf, CEO of a major IT firm, provided a crucial deep dive into Bitcoin's fundamental technology. His perspective is particularly compelling as it comes from an economist and IT expert who, by his own admission, took five years to overcome the "resistance from traditional knowledge" and grasp Bitcoin's core principles.
He was essential for demystifying the network's mechanics and explaining the basis of its perceived value.
Wolf used a live visualization of the Bitcoin network to illustrate its continuous operation. Key data points included:
- The constant stream of transactions flowing into the "mempool," an unconfirmed transaction pool.
- The creation of a new "block," or page in the digital ledger, approximately every 10 minutes.
- The significant transaction volume processed in each block, typically ranging from $100 million to over $1 billion.
- The total size of the blockchain (635 GB), small enough to fit on a standard memory stick, and the decentralized network of approximately 100,000 nodes that secure it.
He then deconstructed the economics of the mining process. The economic model forces miners to have "skin in the game."
By requiring a significant, unrecoverable investment in electricity (~$200,000), the network ensures miners are heavily incentivized to act honestly to claim their ~$350,000reward (a block reward of 3.125 BTC), as any attempt to cheat would result in the forfeiture of their initial investment.
This powerful profit motive is precisely what drives miners to seek out the low-cost, surplus renewable energy that Rachel Geier identified as a key challenge for Europe, creating a powerful symbiosis between grid needs and miner incentives.
Wolf posited that Bitcoin's value proposition is best understood not through intrinsic utility but as a powerful social consensus, a conclusion he supported with potent analogies:
- A Ferrari 250 GTB can sell for $20-50 million at auction, yet its intrinsic scrap metal value is only about $300.
- A Rembrandt painting is valued at over $15 million, while a technically similar painting by an unknown artist might be worth $100.
Finally, Wolf explained the power of network effects using the QWERTY keyboard as an analogy.
Despite being designed in the 19th century for mechanical typewriters and the existence of more ergonomic alternatives, its first-mover advantage has made it the unshakable global standard.
He argued that Bitcoin benefits from a similar dynamic, making it highly resistant to being displaced by newer, technologically "better" cryptocurrencies.
This foundational explanation of Bitcoin's technology and value set the stage for a critical discussion addressing its future challenges.
4.0 Critical Debates: Addressing Future Challenges and Geopolitical Implications
The interactive Q&A session served as a critical forum to probe the resilience, security, and long-term viability of the Bitcoin network.
The expert speakers addressed key concerns raised by the audience, offering insights into the technological and geopolitical headwinds Bitcoin may face.
4.2.1. Mitigating the Long-Term Risk of Quantum Supremacy
- Concern: The potential for future quantum computers to break Bitcoin's cryptographic security, making wallets and the mining process vulnerable.
- Response (Wolf): This is a well-understood, long-term challenge actively being addressed by the open-source developer community. Three distinct proposals for implementing quantum-safe encryption are already under discussion. With expert estimates suggesting a high probability that the threat will not become significant before 2035, there is an estimated decade-long window to implement a solution.
4.2.2. Analyzing the Network's Economic Self-Correction Mechanism
- Concern: If the price of Bitcoin were to fall dramatically, making the block reward worth less than the high cost of electricity required for mining, what would prevent the network from shutting down?
- Response (Geier): The Bitcoin protocol has a built-in, self-correcting mechanism known as the "difficulty adjustment." Every 2,016 blocks (approximately two weeks), the network automatically recalibrates the difficulty of the mining puzzle. If miners leave the network (e.g., due to low profitability), the puzzle becomes easier, restoring profitability for the remaining miners and ensuring blocks continue to be found every 10 minutes on average. This dynamic maintains network security and operational consistency.
4.2.3. Navigating Geopolitical Competition from CBDCs
- Concern: The potential impact of government-issued digital currencies, such as a Digital Euro or Digital Yuan, on Bitcoin's adoption and relevance.
- Response (Geier & Wolf): The speakers offered a unified perspective that Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) could paradoxically benefit Bitcoin. Geier argued that the surveillance capabilities and potential for spending controls inherent in CBDCs will drive more users toward Bitcoin in search of privacy. Wolf predicted a three-way global competition: China's control-oriented Digital Yuan, Europe's centralized Digital Euro, and a market-driven US approach centered on regulated stablecoins (e.g., USDT, USDC). He forecast a US victory, driven by the pace of private-sector innovation, a race he believes Europe is already losing.
These critical discussions provided a realistic assessment of the obstacles ahead, leading into the speakers' final, forward-looking projections for Bitcoin's evolution over the next decade.
5.0 Concluding Outlook: Projecting Bitcoin's Role in the Next Decade
In their concluding remarks, the speakers offered two distinct but complementary visions for Bitcoin's maturation over the next ten years, moving beyond short-term price fluctuations to consider its fundamental role in the future global landscape.
1. Rachel Geier's Vision of Evolution:
Geier emphasized that the scope of Bitcoin's future evolution is "unimaginable," comparing the potential for future advancements to the technological leap from mining with consumer CPUs to today's specialized ASIC hardware. Her vision is one of continued, problem-driven adoption, where Bitcoin's utility in areas like energy and finance will become increasingly recognized and integrated.
2. Holger Wolf's Store-of-Value Thesis:
Wolf predicted that fiat currencies like the Euro will continue a slow, steady devaluation, while Bitcoin solidifies its position as a primary global "store-of-value" asset and a digital alternative to gold. He concluded, breaking his own rule against price predictions, with a specific long-term forecast: Bitcoin could reach $1 million by 2032-33 and $1.2 million within 10 years.
The symposium's core message was clear: Bitcoin has transcended its origins as a cypherpunk experiment and is now being rigorously evaluated on two parallel fronts: as a fundamental component of future energy infrastructure and as a non-sovereign, global store-of-value asset.
This growing mainstream engagement is evidenced by concrete developments such as the Volksbank Raiffeisenbank Bayern Mitte becoming the first German bank to offer self-custody Bitcoin services, and the upcoming annual Bitcoin Forum in Ingolstadt, which will feature a dedicated section on energy solutions.