The Surprising Truth About Who's Buying Bitcoin in Europe

Who's really buying Bitcoin right now, and why aren't more people paying attention? This week on Coin Stories, Natalie sits down with Julian Liniger, co-founder and CEO of Relai, Europe's leading Bitcoin-only exchange, live at ‪@BTCPrague‬. After onboarding more than 100,000 Europeans to Bitcoin, Julian has a rare, ground-level view of who's actually buying and it's not who you'd expect. He shares what his data reveals about everyday people turning to Bitcoin, why European savers feel squeezed, why retail interest has gone quiet, and where he thinks the price goes from here. We discuss: Who's really buying Bitcoin in Europe, and why it's older, more ordinary people than anyone expected Why so many Europeans are turning to Bitcoin to escape high taxes and a rising cost of living Why retail buyers have gone quiet, and what tends to bring them rushing back Julian's honest read on whether the worst is behind us, and his forecast for the next bull market How Relai grew into a leading Bitcoin exchange across Europe, and its plan to one day go public Follow Julian Liniger on X: https://x.com/julian_liniger 📖 Order Natalie's new book "Bitcoin is For Everyone," a simple introduction to Bitcoin and what’s broken in our current financial system https://amzn.to/3WzFzfU ⚡ Speed Lightning Wallet For easy, low-cost, instant Bitcoin payments, I use Speed. Download and use promo code COINSTORIES10 for 5,000 free sats https://www.speed.app/natalie ⚡ Ledn has a perfect track record protecting over $11 billion in client value through every market cycle since 2018. And tokenized gold is now live on Ledn, giving you two of the most verifiably scarce, non-sovereign assets ever created, held side by side. Get .25% off your first bitcoin-backed loan: https://www.Ledn.io/natalie ⚡ Abundant Mines Fully-managed Bitcoin mining in the U.S. You own the miners. You keep 100% of the Bitcoin. Voted #1 mining company by peers. Get 1 month of free hosting https://abundantmines.com/Natalie/ ⚡ Download Bitkey today and use my promo code STORIES to get 10% off the new Bitkey. This episode was sponsored by Bitkey. https://bitkey.world/STORIES ⚡ The Bitcoin Way Master your Bitcoin self-custody with 1-on-1 help and gain peace of mind with the help of The Bitcoin Way: https://www.thebitcoinway.com/natalie ⚡ BitcoinIRA You can invest in bitcoin 24/7 inside a tax-advantaged IRA. Choose a Traditional IRA to defer taxes, or a Roth IRA for tax-free withdrawals later. Take control of your future with BitcoinIRA https://www.bitcoinira.com/natalie Natalie's Upcoming Events ⚡ Bitcoin Asia is in August and Bitcoin 2027 early bird tickets are already live — grab the lowest pricing available and use code HODL for 10% off: https://tickets.b.tc/event/bitcoin-20... Extra Services to Consider ⚡ Ditch your fiat health insurance like I did four years ago! Join me at CrowdHealth www.joincrowdhealth.com/natalie for a discounted plan. IN THIS EPISODE 00:00 The $500 Bitcoin Mistake That Started It All 3:26 Why Relai Never Touches Your Bitcoin 4:10 The End of the 12-Word Seed Phrase? 5:26 The Everyday People Actually Buying Bitcoin 7:30 Who's Really Buying Bitcoin? It's Not Who You'd Expect 8:43 How Relai Grew Across Germany, Italy, and France 10:12 The Brutal Fight to Get Licensed in Europe 11:53 Why the ECB Keeps Attacking Bitcoin 16:05 Why Smart Savers Keep Buying Through the Bear Market 20:59 The Squeeze: High Taxes and Rising Costs Crushing Europeans 22:57 Where All the Bitcoin Money Went 24:34 "It's Not Too Late" — The Mindset Keeping People Poor 26:49 The Plan to Take Relai Public 28:59 Is the Worst Over? Julian's Bitcoin Price Forecast OTHER RESOURCES Natalie Brunell’s website https://www.talkingbitcoin.com Relai https://relai.app/ FOLLOW NATALIE BRUNELL ON SOCIAL MEDIA X https://x.com/natbrunell   / nataliebrunell   Producer: Aron Bender   / aron-bender   Editor: Silas Foley 📄 LEGAL & RISK DISCLOSURE This content is for entertainment purposes only — not financial, legal, or tax advice. Always consult a licensed professional. I may receive compensation from sponsored content and affiliate links at no cost to you. Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile and speculative; you risk losing capital. All opinions reflect personal views based on information available at time of recording and are not guaranteed to be accurate or predictive of future performance. #bitcoin #crypto #macro #stocks #cryptocurrency #news #economy