This small, but mighty country is demonstrating that good things come in small packages, illustrating its potential as one of the top FinTech countries in the world.The Netherlands has a population of around 17 million people; Germany has a population of nearly 81 million; France has a population of over 66 million people; and the U.K.has a population of 64 million.However, while the latter European countries may spring to mind when you think about the ideal locations for startups, the Netherlands is a country that isn’t afraid to keep up with the big players when its needs to.According to Startup Juncture, Netherland-based startups raised around €430 million in 2015, across 153 deals, up from 76 from the previous year.Not only that, but Forbes reports that the Netherlands was ranked as number one for introducing policies aimed at improving the growth of startups in the country, according to the 2016 Startup Nations Monitor.In its bid to become the next major FinTech hub of the world, the Netherlands invested in a blockchain development campus earlier this year scheduled for opening in September.

Its aim is to attract banks, financial, and FinTech companies under one roof to work towards the development of blockchain solutions.Not only that, but the Netherlands has been working hard at embracing the digital currency bitcoin to be known as a bitcoin-friendly country.In 2014, Arnhem, one of the largest cities in the Netherlands, became the first place to have a supermarket that accepts bitcoin.Not only that but the Dutch have their very own digital currency, the Guldencoin, which was launched in 2014.Named after the guilder Dutch currency that the euro replaced, it has gained a significant level of acceptance among Dutch businesses.It’s clear to see that while the Netherlands may be significantly smaller than other countries that certainly hasn’t stopped it from embracing bitcoin and the blockchain technology.As fears circulate London and its status as the FinTech centre following Brexit, the Netherlands certainly has a shot at claiming the top spot.While Bitcoin seems content to remain the plaything of speculators and the tech sector, Gulden,a Netherlands-based cryptocurrency, is taking digital currency to the people.

Rijk Plasman, founder of Gulden, tells Cointelegraph about the currency’s rise: “We make stuff that people can and want to use.ethereum packageAt the moment word-of-mouth is what gets us new users”.bitcoin armory vs multibitBitcoin’s impressive Blockchain distributed ledger technology has reshaped the financial world, as well as provoked a new rush of applications for the technology.bitcoin cleAs successful as the currency itself is, it still struggles to reach the general public and common use.bitcoin dust collectorMuch of the Bitcoin industry remains insular and concentrated around a limited group of technical users, and its use by “mom-and-pop” small, non-technical businesses is extremely rare.ethereum 2017 price target

Meanwhile, Gulden has taken the opposite approach of Bitcoin, instead gearing itself towards easy adoption by the public.bitcoin atm in cyprusThrough a strategic partnership with the Nocks app, Gulden remains easily tradable for both Bitcoin and euros, removing as many complications for average users as possible.bitcoin türkeiThis long-term slow and steady adoption strategy is finally paying off, as the currency has grown from a minor market cap of about $400,000 early this year to about $2.2 million now, all without any major breakthroughs, business deals, integrations, or hype.bitcoin value in indian rupeesCoinTelegraph spoke to Rijk Plasman, founder of Gulden, about the currency’s slow rise and steady breakthrough.bitcoin buy kraken

CoinTelegraph: Gulden has seen an impressive, and by the looks of it sustainable, growth in market cap and volume this year.To what do you credit this growth?Rijk Plasman: The volume is coming from outside the crypto community, which is exactly what we want.Most purchases are coming through Nocks, that means small amounts, 10/25/50 euros.So not just a few big investors but lots of new users.We can also see this in the app downloads.CT: Did any big news or events spur this growth, or was it just a slow and steady increase in adoption that caused the increase?RP: Definitely the last, we never use our development to hype stuff.We make stuff that people can and want to use.At the moment word-of-mouth is what gets us new users.People like the apps and tell their friends and family.For us this feels like baby-steps but also a confirmation that we are on the right track.In the coming weeks we will launch our new desktop app, which sets the standard for usability and has features that you actually use in real life.

CT: How centered in the Netherlands is the Gulden user base currently?RP: Well less than I expected, we can see that in our Slack channel, it’s 50/50.We have users from all over the world.Our focus is not just the Netherlands, with the apps you can send money to your IBAN in the whole of Europe.And the BTC payments work worldwide of course.But we like starting in the Netherlands because it’s a challenging and crowded market, people are overwhelmed with banking apps and fintech startups.So we need to offer something truly better for people to use it.It’s a great user acceptance test.CT: One of the prime challenges with Bitcoin in a point-of-sale merchant setting is the delay in transaction confirmations, or potentially risky zero-confirmation transactions.Has Gulden improved on this?RP: That's a very good point and it's one of those things where you have to be realistic.No merchant wants to wait minutes for confirmations.So that has to change and we are doing that with Prime.Prime is a system that we will be introducing in the coming months especially designed for that.

The first part allows for transactions with just 1 confirmations and Prime 2 makes 0 confirmations possible.We are not developing this because it sounds cool or innovative, but because you need this to be competitive in this market.CT: How about fees?Is it cheaper to use Gulden than credit card services?RP: Gulden to Gulden is of course always cheaper but once you hook into the existing infrastructure, so Gulden to Eur for example, you'll need payment providers.We work closely together with Nocks for that and they offer cheaper and more innovative solutions than other providers.When you start working with blockchain technology the result is almost always cost reduction.CT: One of the main challenges with non-Bitcoin cryptocurrency is its dependence on Bitcoin to be acquired.How easy is it to buy Gulden straight for fiat currency? and soon even from within the apps.And you only need a bank account to do that.Payments go through Nocks and they have very good fraud and money laundering prevention.