the main reason i'm partial to Platzer is that he is international. maybe that's too much of a simplification but i also think he's lived, breathed, and taken personal and financial risks in promoting Bitcoin.
Exactly. He has a personal stake in the system: he risked his business standing up for his (allegedly extremist) views, and it paid of for him, he had the diplomatic abilities to negotiate Bitcoin payment for all of his overheads. He can't have been so confrontational and uncompromising to achieve that.
from my own geopolitical assessment of risk to Bitcoin's future, Germany's ruling allowing Bitcoin to function as a legal private currency was a seminal event. to me that means whatever the US gov't does to try and obstruct Bitcoin, it won't matter given this development. that is huge to me.
i always assumed Platzer had a hand in this and now from the debate i learn that my suspicions were true. he's been working directly with Schaeffer (?) of the Bundesbank to get this done. that's big and indicates an ability to work with regulators towards what in essence guarantees Bitcoin's future, imo.