Post by Michael Feygelman

🚨 𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲: 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗨𝗗𝗜-𝗪𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗯𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 “𝗿𝘂𝗺𝗼𝗿” 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆.   🗣️ In my last post, some people dismissed these concerns as “speculation” or “fearmongering”: https://lnkd.in/d5cwaDs9   📢 Well… it’s official now. The German Federal Ministry for Digitalization and State Modernization has announced that there will be a 12-month blocking period (“Sperrfrist”): https://lnkd.in/dJcDzSNP (second last paragraph)   😤 And honestly, I’m disappointed! And I have serious concerns about what this means for the market.   🤔 Because what are we witnessing here? Instead of enabling competition, supporting innovation, and letting citizens and businesses choose the best solution, we’re seeing artificial protection. Not through quality, but through regulation. This is a market intervention.   ⚠️ And the message it sends is alarming: • Private wallet providers get slowed down • Investments become less attractive • Startups and SMEs lose planning security • Competition is prevented before it even starts • And in the end, the winner won’t be the best wallet, but the “intended” one.   😒 What bothers me most: People often act like this is just about “one more app” or “different colored buttons.” ❌ No. 🚫 If we block competition here, we’re not blocking “design differences”. We’re blocking progress.   📌 And one more point that gets ignored far too often: A functioning market creates faster and cheaper solutions and solutions that are closer to what people actually need.   💔 And yes, I’m especially disappointed because an open ecosystem with interoperability has been repeatedly advocated. I have also always been a huge fan of all the SPRIND challenges and the principle that several providers compete with each other to secure more funding and visibility. And now, it feels like that entire idea of competition, openness, and “let the best solution win” is being thrown out the window.   What is your perspective? Helge Michael, Adrian Doerk 🇪🇺 📲, Roland Adrian, André Petzold, Benny Bennet Jürgens, Carlo Ulbrich, Mathias W., Fabian Aggeler, Patrick Amrein, Ana Goessens, Timo Glastra, John Bradley, Jörg Lenz