Didi Taihuttu, a Dutch man, his wife and their three daughters who live in a chalet in Limburg and who have decided to live simpler lives, have sold all their major possessions to buy up Bitcoin.

The 38-year-old, an IT business owner who used to employ 16 people, claims “It’s the currency of the future”, but says if it all goes south, he’ll be ready to start over. Last week, Bitcoin apparently broke through the 5,000 USD for the first time since its launch, an increase of more than 400 percent just in 2017. However, if you read the link, you’ll see that opinions are still very divided on the topic.

In 2015, a the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that Bitcoin is exempt of VAT and there was also the Dutchman who had Bitcoin wallets injected into his hands.

(Link: phys.org, Photo by BTC Keychain, some rights reserved)

The designer of the famous colourful Dutch guilders Ootje Oxenaar died today aged 87 in his hometown of Manomet, Massachusets.

It can easily be said that Oxenaar contributed to making Dutch design famous around the world, with the Dutch banknotes he designed between 1966 and 1985. In 2009 Oxenaar exhibited at the Museum for Communication, The Hague.

Here’s a video to find out more about the beautiful banknotes Oxenaar designed voiced over by him in English.

(Link: nu.nl)

The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that Bitcoin is a currency and that trading in it is exempt of VAT.

Dutch Bitcoin exchange Litebit.eu had to pay 21% VAT over their margins, but can now ask for a tax refund, according to CEO Rogier Fischer in Business Insider UK.

The ruling (PDF to press release) follows a year in which banks worldwide have been contemplating the use of blockchain, the electronic public ledger used for all Bitcoin transactions.

In 2013 Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem ruled that Bitcoin was not electronic money. Arnoud Engelfriet wrote last week that the European ruling brings Bitcoin “a step closer to being money”.

Dutch people still need to pay capital tax over the Bitcoin they own, because capital tax is calculated over the value of all possessions, not just over that of money.

(Photo by BTC Keychain, some rights reserved)

Canadian quarters in washers and dryers at the laundromat in the US and in Canada, old 20 French frank coins, if I remember correctly, for the parking meters, which probably works in the US as well: every country has their slugs (see definition No. 3).

Since the introduction of the euro, it has been easy to pass off certain lesser coins for euro, at the least the one and two euro coins. Pictured here is a 1 bolívar fuerte from Venezuela that was passed off to me as a 1 euro coin.

According to Amsterdam newspaper Het Parool, people who have been to Thailand are freely using Thai 10 bath coins, which are worth about 24 euro cents. Although there’s a king and a temple on the 10 bath, the similar colour scheme confuse folks who don’t check these things, especially in a bar or taxi. Well, that’s how I landed the fuerte.

“We estimate that lately at least 10,000 of these coins are circulating in the Netherlands, says Sander van Golberdinge, Deputy Director for Detailhandel Nederland — the umbrella organisation for all retail trade in the Netherlands.”

(Link: www.dutchamsterdam.nl)

The municipality of Noordoostpolder in the province of Flevoland run by the Christian Union (‘centrist’ Christians) and SGP (fundamentalist Christians) is seriously considering issuing their own currency, the Schokker. The name comes from a type of Dutch ship that comes from Schokland, a village in the Noordoostpolder.

An April Fools’ Day joke it isn’t: “our own currency in the municipality would strengthen the local economy, as residents would spend more locally. Of course, you could still pay in euro.”

It wouldn’t be the first time zealous Christians closed themselves off from the real world to cause more problems for themselves and others, so we’ll keep you posted.

(Link: datditkaninnederland.nl)

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – The U.S. dollar’s value is dropping so fast against the euro that small currency outlets in Amsterdam are turning away tourists seeking to sell their dollars for local money while on vacation in the Netherlands.

“Our dollar is worth maybe zero over here,” said Mary Kelly, an American tourist from Indianapolis, Indiana, in front of the Anne Frank house. “It’s hard to find a place to exchange. We have to go downtown, to the central station or post office.”

That’s because the smaller currency exchanges — despite buy/sell spreads that make it easier for them to make money by exchanging small amounts of currency — don’t want to be caught holding dollars that could be worth less by the time they can sell them.

The dollar hovered near record lows on Monday, with one euro worth around $1.58 versus $1.47 a month ago.

(Link: reuters.com)