The Czech Republic might be the best country to live on Bitcoin.
Here are the main reasons.
Living on Bitcoin
- You can eat at hundreds of restaurants and pay by Lightning using Qerko.
- There is a number of establishments that even accept Lightning directly.
- You can buy almost anything for on-chain or Lightning on Alza.cz (sort of a Czech Amazon).
- There are many businesses that accept Bitcoin: https://mapa.berubitcoin.cz/
- You can easily exchange Bitcoin to cash and back privately (see the section on Privacy below).
Bitcoin Community
- BTC Prague is the biggest Bitcoin event in Europe.
- There is a Bitcoin meetup every week or two in Prague or Brno.
- There are local Bitcoin gatherings even in smaller cities.
- SatoshiLabs, authors of Trezor, the best Bitcoin HW wallet, is from the Czech Republic.
- There are other Bitcoin-related companies in the Czech Republic that are supporting the community.
- Paralelni Polis in Prague is a crypto hub (even though it has been dying a bit recently).
Privacy
- You can buy and sell Bitcoin through anonymous ATMs.
- You can buy and sell Bitcoin through a chain of newsagents (for cash).
- There is no KYC on ATMs or other exchanges up to EUR 1000.
- You can buy anonymous SIM cards at any newsagent.
- Internet is not blocked and not overly monitored (even though it is monitored, as everywhere in Europe).
- There is a very strong community of peer-to-peer traders through Vexl.
- There is some advantage of GDPR being in place, even though that is mostly a useless regulation (sometimes it is useful against the state, though).
Taxes
- You can start a company (LLC) pretty easily, with no initial capital needed, even though it is not the easiest in the world.
- The best way to run a small business is through a sole entrepreneurship (no accounting needed for up to 2m CZK).
- The company income tax is 21%. The personal income tax is 15%, with higher income +8% points.
- Taxing your Bitcoin profits at 15%
- Bitcoin is considered property for tax and accounting purposes.
Freedom & Life
- No major internet censorship. Freedom of speech.
- You can easily get a gun license and conceal carry firearms. You can also buy larger semi-automatic weapons, like AK-47 or M4 or others.
- Internet connection in CZ is quite fast with fiber available at many locations, as well as 5G.
- Food is good. A lot of international cousine in the major cities.
- You can get along with English in Prague & Brno (although not much in smaller cities).
- Rent prices are not bad. Overall, prices are good for a European country that is very westernized.
Politics
- A lot of polarization due to the war in Ukraine (although Czechs are mostly behind UA).
- Not much polarization due to Israel (CZ is the most consistent supporter of Israel).
- Overall, a lot of populism, as everywhere, but not the worst. People complain a lot though.
Downsides
- No time test on holding crypto (you need to tax them even after 3 or more years).
- Some recent freedom of speech issues (connected to Russia and "disinformation").
- COVID lockdowns very pretty heavy.
- Taking money out of your company is taxed twice (first company tax, then personal).
- Employee taxes are extremely high.
- Hiring & firing is very rigid, as well as the whole of labour code (legacy of the Communist-era).
- Infrastructure is ok, but not the best (not many highways compared to Germany, trains are slow).
- Real estate is very expensive, compared to the wages in the country.
Anything I missed?