Ελλάς (Greece)

[imanikin]

Given the latest fiscal developments in Greece, would someone from the Greek part of the community please give us an on-scene update on what the default would mean to the average Greeks, and how it might affect Bitcoin's prospects in your country?

Thank you in advance for any info!  

[haydent]

[imanikin]

Today's extensive BBC report on the situation in Greece prompts me to restate my question above.

It's curious that given the acute financial turmoil, talk of revolution and civil war there, there seems to be little interest in monetary alternatives such as Bitcoin among the Greeks; at least it doesn't seem to show either here or on Google Trends... 

[swtorcredits]

 

[3phase]

Hey Znort, it's not that bad yet  .

To the OP:
I have been watching my fellow citizens for the last few years, waiting for the appearance an innovative alternative course of action, which is an legendary property of the Greek mind - meaning, we're supposed to be innovative and out-of-the-box thinkers, following the tradition of Ulysses  . We tend to forget of course, that Ulysses according to the story escaped death several times and was, for most of his journey, in very dire conditions. Hint: Being open minded and innovative needs to be forced externally by the circumstance, I have yet to see more than a handful of people that can get there on their free will only.

To my bitter surprise, none has arisen. The vast majority of people think - in one way or another - that someone is playing games on us, and the bad Europeans want to take control of our country through this financial shenanigan.

I came to think that we cannot expect everyone to give up so easily all the decades of living within a welfare state and fiat, borrowed money. It can happen in very small numbers, until of course the money actually runs out.

When that happens, when pension funds, public schools, municipalities and everything else (except the police and the army of course) shut down, then change can come in avalanche-like ways within a few days or weeks.

Until then, we all have to bear with the wait. Can take 2 weeks, can take 2 months, can take 2 years.

If any other Greek is reading this, fell free to argue with me.

[3phase]

Step 1: Denial

Exactly. When we get to the Acceptance stage (which might happen fast, when there is no money left for anything), we can talk bitcoins.

[imanikin]

...i thought some people had to have reached "the Acceptance" stage by now: Carena Bar Restaurant , Agia Efimia , Kefalonia, Greece

Has anyone tried this place?

[3phase]

...i thought some people had to have reached "the Acceptance" stage by now: Carena Bar Restaurant , Agia Efimia , Kefalonia, Greece

Has anyone tried this place?

Been there a few years ago, very nice village by the sea. Right now I would need 300 EUR just to get there for a day trip and check out their bitcoin little business. So I can't really tell.

[Bitcoin.Greece]

Please all Greek people in this forum contact me. We could be as one ...
Let's Make the bitcoin known to everybody in Greece.

[3phase]

Please all Greek people in this forum contact me. We could be as one ...
Let's Make the bitcoin known to everybody in Greece.

I'm Greek, living in Athens. What's your plan?

[3phase]

Great idea, and, if I may make a further suggestion: get rid of these pesky Euros as quickly
as you can by converting them to bitcoins before either of the two following scenarios happen:

     1. The Euro currency, dragged down into a death spiral by Greek irresponsibility looses
         all of its value and crashes down to $.1 USD per Euro.

     2. Greek banks freezes all euro assets and force-convert them to drachmas at a rate of
         their choosing before anyone has time to withdraw them in the form of hard euros bills.

Either way, get out of there before it's too late.

BTW, this is not exactly an original idea: the smart money, well aware of the bloodbath this
is all going to end up in, has long left Greece and is now well hidden, safe and sound in fiscal
paradises.

1. EUR will drop to cents of the dollar when Germany decides to leave. Hold on.

2. Most money left in the Greek banks is from pensioners and people that can afford to lose them.

3. My backyard is a fiscal paradise, according to your assessment of the behaviour of smart money 

[3phase]

3. My backyard is a fiscal paradise, according to your assessment of the behaviour of smart money 

Does your investment in your backyard pay dividends ?

No, but it has appreciated significantly over the past few years 

[GreekBitcoin]

greek here ...

The problem is how to persuade your grandma and grandpa to take whatever money they have out of banks these days

[3phase]

greek here ...

The problem is how to persuade your grandma and grandpa to take whatever money they have out of banks these days

Αν κρίνεις από τα 60 δισ. που έφυγαν από τις τράπεζες τα τελευταία 4 χρόνια, δεν πρέπει να είναι και πολύ δύσκολο . Έτσι κι αλλιώς, τι σχέση έχει αυτό με τα Bitcoins? Πώς θα καταλάβουν ο παππούς και η γιαγιά τι στην ευχή είναι αυτό το πράμα, όταν δεν μπορούν να καταλάβουν τι είναι οι υπολογιστές;

[jim618]

We are looking for a Greek translator for MultiBit.

If you are a native Greek speaker or have a Greek friend that would be interested please sign up at:
http://translate.multibit.org

Given the difficult situation in Greece we think we should have a translation of MultiBit for anyone who wants to use bitcoin there.

[3phase]

We are looking for a Greek translator for MultiBit.

If you are a native Greek speaker or have a Greek friend that would be interested please sign up at:
http://translate.multibit.org

Given the difficult situation in Greece we think we should have a translation of MultiBit for anyone who wants to use bitcoin there.

I just joined in and started. It should be done by Monday/Tuesday. Sooner if anyone else joins in. If not, you'll need at least 1 proofreader.

[Kaos]

Not a huge fan of necroposting but there's no point in opening a new thread to discuss this...

To the OP: A default would the best long-term financial move the Greek government could do. I thought about going there for holidays but the exchange between GBP > EUR is a joke which meant that everything was a lot more expensive than it should be. For a country where it has no real heavy industry and they need to depend on two major exports, a) Food, Olive Oil, etc and b) Tourism (yes I count tourism as export since you need to "export" the idea of visiting your country), this is simply suicide.

Had the Greek government decided to default and revert to the Drachma:

1. people who had their money in a Greek Bank would lose crap-loads in the conversion process but had they kept them in either Cash or Gold or some other country (p.s. I've helped a few Greek buddies of mine to open bank accounts here in the UK in either GBP or EUR, which they can as non-resident Europeans) they would be better off!
2. With such a cheap currency and a strategic location between the West and Asia Minor, it would make it a great trade hub and an ideal place for businesses to locate but also it would make it great for exports (can sell mediteranean produce like olive oil at lower rates than Italians/Spanish and their EUR, plus the added benefit of being able to give Brussels the middle finger and set their own prices) and of course expand and reinvigorate the No. 1 industry in Greece... Tourism!!!

But when then again who cares, forgive me for being blunt but the corruption in the Greek "ethos" goes so deep, that they (Government/1%) would screw things up again in another 30-50 years regardless.

[jim618]

@3phase - thanks !

I see on http://translate.multibit.org that you have it over one third done already.
I am hoping to get the next MultiBit release out around mid-week next week so your Greek should go in nicely then.

:-)

[jim618]

3phase's Greek translation is now included in the latest MultiBit release.
Here is a screen shot:



I machine translated some of the wallet names and labels so apologies for any inaccuracies.

You can download it from multibit.org

[Serenata]

imanikin, I have talked to numerous (Greek) people about Bitcoin but most of them were negative to the idea. Not because they think Bitcoin is not safe; I wish the conversation would last that long to reach this part. Bitcoin is just too different from what the vast majority of people are use to and they don't like the idea of such a big change. Older people also have this kind of "fear" about computer stuff.

Converting euros to bitcoins sounds like a nice idea and I'm in favor. Especially for Greek people if we are to go back to a domestic currency. I'm not sure though that people will be able to convert Bitcoins to domestic currency after/if we exit the euro zone. It's rumored that there will be high taxation in international money transfers heading to Greece.

Kaos is right especially about #2. But I believe Greece's major problem is not the economy! It's the corrupt politicians who could not care less about their country. All they care about is their personal power and profit.

By the way, 3phase congrats on the translation of MultiBit