Bürgergeld and Bitcoin: How Much Crypto Can You Keep?

Yes, your crypto holdings count as assets for Bürgergeld, Germany's basic income support. They are a realisable asset within the meaning of the Social Code, they are valued at their market value, and they are set against the same allowances as an instant-access savings account or a share portfolio. What has changed since the summer of 2026: the allowances are no longer the same for everyone, and the one-year grace period at the start of a claim no longer exists for financial assets. This article explains how much you may keep, which day decides the valuation, what you must tell the Jobcenter of your own accord, and the routes by which an authority learns of holdings you have not declared. All the figures come from the text of the law itself, not from advice portals. Bürgergeld has become Grundsicherungsgeld: what changed on assets The benefit that people still colloquially call Bürgergeld carries a new name in the law. Under section 19 of Book Two of the German Social Code, claimants capable of work receive Grundsicherungsgeld, basic income support. Official jargon and the search engines still lag behind; the decision letters do not. Anyone filing a claim today has the new rules ap...