Germany has profited immensely from the use of the euro in foreign trade. Had it kept the Deutschmark, German exports would be by some esteems 25% more expensive than they are now, given the strong fiscal position of the country.

Germany is in a unique position of being able to jawbone about devaluation and monetary policy while reaping the rewards of spendthrift member states.

When you replace "Germany" with the german state or its tax revenue I would agree. Having a low value / devaluing currency goes to the disadvantage of people getting their salary in that currency.

it's also great for people running businesses which exist to nominally try to protect wage earners of that currency from inflation, e.g. pension funds, investment firms, CEOs.

Germany's upper class benefited both from Euro and keeping salaries of their employees low.

that!

"Germany has zero interest in devaluation; in fact they've been accused of being far too strict in Euro monetary policy, with the 0-2% inflation target."

Germany has, and has had, an immense interest in keeping their currency artificially devalued and they have achieved this by entering into a fixed exchange currency union with countries like Italy and Portugal and Spain.

The PIIGS currency is, relatively, overvalued in comparison to the German currency because they have the same value.

So a first glance at German policy which is in place to protect their fragile banking system which is overexposed to PIIGS debtors looks to be currency strengthening - and perhaps it would be if they had their own currency. However the broad impact of German policy (their policy to be in a monetary union with PIIGS) is tremendously weakening of their currency, relative to the other members of the Euro group.

Of course, if the crypto advocates win, then Portugal, Spain, Germany, and everyone else will be in a "currency union"...

Is there any sign of a crypto currency that people want to use? Libra is an unregulated, centralized bank account that hides behind a blockchain. I still think it might succeed on social effects if it allows e.g. organizing betting pools and paying out without Libra backers getting their hands dirty—if anyone can sell that it’s Facebook, a reliable social institution, for better or worse. But generally there’s no strategy for luring people into the market and away from cash or cards.