From thumbs-ups from friendly strangers to midnight police searches, a Bitcoin-themed van continues a whirlwind tour around Europe.
Ariel Aguilar has been behind the wheel of Bitcoin (BTC) promotion efforts, driving across Europe in a BTC-themed van called La Bitcoineta. Speaking to Cointelegraph journalist Joe Hall at Plan B Summer School, the Argentinian Bitcoin proponent recalled highs and lows of the journey across nearly a dozen European nations.
A portion of La Bitcoineta’s journey took the van from Serbia to Lugano, which involved a border transition between Bosnia and Croatia. Aguilar had waited until midnight to cross the border, which prompted suspicion from border and customs officials.
After an initial check at the border, the van was stopped ten minutes later by an unmarked vehicle manned by five officials in civilian clothes. The Bitcoin enthusiast said:
“They said ‘we are the police, we have to search your vehicle.’ I thought it’s most likely that they thought we were smuggling people.”
Again Aguilar was cleared to continue his trip to Lugano, humorously noting that he had avoided ‘bribing’ an official who had discovered Aguilar’s copy of The Bitcoin Standard, a book written by BTC proponent and economist Saifedean Ammous:
“I didn’t know if he wanted it, but just in case it was seen as a bribe, I did not give it as a gift.”
Other sections of the journey have produced more positive experiences. Aguilar highlighted seeing thumbs up signs from strangers in Switzerland at the sight of La Bitcoineta cruising past. Meanwhile people in crypto-friendly jurisdictions like Spain and Portugal were seemingly oblivious to the van’s presence.
La Bitcoineta has travelled from from Spain to Gibraltar, Portugal, Andorra, Switzerland, Munich, Prague, Oslo, Romania, Serbia and Lugano.
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The journey is set to continue in the direction of Serbia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, and Macedonia. A trip to the United Kingdom is planned in September, before heading to Madrid, Amsterdam and Luana before completing the journey in Lugano.
Aguilar said next year’s tour might feature longer trips to different countries, gauging the different level of Bitcoin adoption.
“Let’s say we do Germany, we do France. The idea is to interview a French Bitcoiner to…
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