Can foreigners open a bank account in Germany

[bernardos]

Hello,

I am sorry, I dont speak any German, I hope you wont be offended that I am posting in English.

I live in a country that doesnt know what Bitcoin is, I doubt anyone in our government can describe Bitcoin asides from "some kind of online witchcraft that we can tax although we have no idea what it is nor do we care". All transactions involving online gambling are blocked by our banks so sending Bitcoin to myself is out of the question.

What is Germanys take on Bitcoin?
How do they tax it?

Is it possible for a foreigner to open a bank account in a German bank that is crypto friendly, get a debit card that I can use and withdraw money from a local ATM in my country?

I would like to exchange my Bitcoins to EURO and withdraw them to a German bank account. How big are the taxes?
In what way do you guys in Germany deal with exchanges and which ones do you use?

[fsm247]

All transactions involving online gambling are blocked by our banks so sending Bitcoin to myself is out of the question.

How is online gambling related to Bitcoin? 

What is Germanys take on Bitcoin?
How do they tax it?

Bitcoin is not considered a currency in Germany, more like a digital asset.
Gains on assets like that are tax free, if you held it for longer than a year. If you buy and sell before that period, then your individual income tax rate is applied.

Is it possible for a foreigner to open a bank account in a German bank that is crypto friendly, get a debit card that I can use and withdraw money from a local ATM in my country?

I think it will be hard to find a crypto friendly bank in Germany for somebody not living there.
Fidor comes to mind, but I am not sure if they still accept people not residing in Germany.

A friend of mine just recently applied for an account at Swissquote, which is crypto friendly, you can actually hold your cryptos there (if you wish to use a bank for that) and I think they also provide credit and debit cards. The application hasn't gone through yet, so I cannot speculate on the success rate yet. They are working on it though (he only applied 2 days ago).

I would like to exchange my Bitcoins to EURO and withdraw them to a German bank account. How big are the taxes?
In what way do you guys in Germany deal with exchanges and which ones do you use?

Taxes see above.
I don't live in Germany, but I mostly use Kraken, Bitstamp and Bitcoin.de

[tyKiwanuka]

Is it possible for a foreigner to open a bank account in a German bank that is crypto friendly, get a debit card that I can use and withdraw money from a local ATM in my country?

I think it will be hard to find a crypto friendly bank in Germany for somebody not living there.
Fidor comes to mind, but I am not sure if they still accept people not residing in Germany.

Depends on where you actually live in the end. Being an EU resident, there are ways to open a german bank account. N26 comes to my mind. As a non-EU resident it's not possible imo.

[Lakai01]

Is it possible for a foreigner to open a bank account in a German bank that is crypto friendly, get a debit card that I can use and withdraw money from a local ATM in my country?

I think it will be hard to find a crypto friendly bank in Germany for somebody not living there.
Fidor comes to mind, but I am not sure if they still accept people not residing in Germany.

Depends on where you actually live in the end. Being an EU resident, there are ways to open a german bank account. N26 comes to my mind. As a non-EU resident it's not possible imo.

The most crypto friendly German bank is Fidor.
They definitly allow you to open an account as an EU citizen but I am not sure if this is true for non-EU citizens, too.

Simply get in touch with their support and ask them directly: https://www.fidor.de
 

[bernardos]

I will check with Fidor and Swissquote as suggested, thanks!

How do Germany citizens withdraw their funds to fiat if your banks are not so crypto friendly either, what process do you go through to get your crypto converted to cash?

[o_solo_miner]

German Tax Laws are irelevant, because you have to pay tax in your country.
There for you have to inform your tax office about holding an account in germany, or where ever,
and apply to your country rules about tax.

[Lakai01]

How do Germany citizens withdraw their funds to fiat if your banks are not so crypto friendly either, what process do you go through to get your crypto converted to cash?

I didnt face any problems so far with withdrawing FIAT to my bank account. If you withdraw more than 10k EUR you should notify your bank upfront, thats all