I still can’t believe it. I just watched this video by CNN about a New Hampshire man who is able to live his entire life on cryptocurrency. I’ve come close, but he’s got even me beat. Truly an impressive feat. To learn his secret, watch this video:
Now, in just the first quarter of 2018, an explosion of competition has hit the Manchester area. Two national Bitcoin Vending Machine operators have entered the NH market and added several machines. One company called Coinsource dropped three BVMs into Manchester back in late January and within a month, a Nevada-based company Coincloud placed a BVM one block north of the original CVM at Murphy’s Taproom in Manch at a vape shop called Vaporamas.
Manchester’s CVM Explosion, as of March 2018
That same company has also placed units in brand new New Hampshire markets, also at vape shops in Nashua and Salem! Finally, New Hampshire’s newest BVM just went online about a week ago in Manchester’s Mall of New Hampshire in the food court. It’s a smart location – people sitting around eating have more time to get curious about the machine and maybe check it out. The operator of the mall unit is the brand new “Simple BTC LLC”.
That’s a total of 13 Cryptocurrency Vending Machines (though the units from Coincloud, Coinsource, and Simple BTC are BTC-only at this time) in and across Southern New Hampshire. Sadly, the Twin Mountain BVM in the North Country closed when the gas station housing it went out of business last year. Compare NH to Massachusetts, where according to the excellent website “Coin ATM Radar” there are 24 CVMs for 6.79 million people, which is one machine for every 283,101 people. In NH it’s 13 CVMs for 1.35 million people, which is one for every 103,846 people. New Hampshire is crushing Massachusetts with more affordable rates at its machines and nearly three times more CVMs-per-capita! NH even beats out NY, CA, and FL ranking at #5 nationwide for CVMs-per-capita, with almost ten machines per one million population (using 2015 numbers and data from Coin ATM Radar). You can see where your state ranks on this spreadsheet. (more…)
Ever since, I’ve been a supporter of the unique approach that Hundred Nights has taken to helping the homeless. Rather than give them a place to stay every day of the year, Hundred Nights opens for the hundred coldest nights. At 7am, all those staying overnight have to get their stuff and leave for the day. They aren’t completely out in the cold, as Hundred Nights also operates a drop-in center open year-round, where the homeless can work on finding jobs, putting together a resume, or just get warm.
Hundred Nights’ BTC Wallet QR Code is 13rPdujR7Gg2v8pGHEF1UwCAP9gVjb6j8v
Recently, the Monadnock Decentralized Currency Network (MDCN) donated 1% of a Bitcoin Core (BTC) to the auction that Hundred Nights put on in December. The MDCN also offered to match the dollar amount of the winning bid on the coin as a BTC donation to Hundred Nights, up to a maximum of one whole BTC (which at the time was worth about $15,000). Turns out, despite having the chance to bid, a room full of mostly older folks only resulted in one bid… of $25. It was a lady buying it for her son, who had been telling her about cryptocurrency.
Given that the bid was so low, it was decided that a matching 1% of a BTC (worth around $150 at the time) would also be donated to Hundred Nights, rather than just $25. I dropped in to the office of Hundred Nights’ Executive Director Mindy Cambiar and helped walk her through signing up with Coinbase. While I’m not a big fan of Coinbase as a company, they do make it easy for people with bank accounts to acquire cryptocurrency as well as convert it to USD if they need or want, so I still recommend them to newbies. Indeed, within a short time, Hundred Nights was ready to accept cryptocurrency donations and the addresses are up now on their website. Whether you live in the area or not, if you’re a cryptocurrency user, please send them a donation to thank them for embracing the future of money!
As of now, Keene’s independent homeless charity is now accepting cryptocurrency including Bitcoin Core (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Litecoin (LTC), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH)! Here are the addresses to which you can contribute: (more…)
If you’re a liberty-oriented cryptocurrency fan, ask yourself if this level of positive cryptocurrency news coverage is happening in your area. If not, you really ought to consider moving to the crypto-Mecca of New Hampshire. Here are 101 reasons why you should.
Isabelle Rose, owner Bon Vivant – Gourmet Street Food
In the summer of 2016, Isabelle Rose launched her Keene, NH food truck, “Bon Vivant Gourmet Street Foods”, serving delicious Vietnamese food. From the beginning she was accepting Bitcoin! Though she’s closed for the winter and planning to open a sit-down restaurant next, Food Truck Operator, a food truck industry website, has published a piece featuring Isabelle.
It’s great publicity for her and for Keene, which the article calls, “one of the most pro-bitcoin communities in the U.S., if not the world.”
The article also focuses on Keene-based beverage truck operator Doug Hildreth, who says he’ll be accepting cryptocurrency at his truck, “320Nitro”, when he reopens in 2018. You can read the full story here at FoodTruckOperator.com.
In 2010, dozens of libertarians, voluntaryists, and anarchists attending the Porcupine Freedom Festival put their signatures on the original Shire Society Declaration. The Declaration, since signed thousands of times online and in real life by people from across the globe, is a personal declaration of independence from the horrible idea of “the state”. You can read and sign the Shire Society Declaration here and for more history on its creation, see here.
Since the original two hemp paper Declarations quickly filled up with signatures, the artist who did the calligraphy, the Muslim Agorist aka Davi Barker created a bunch of smaller hemp paper replicas. Former Keene activist El Stone brought one of them to the Nexus conference in Colorado in late September 2017, where libertarian presidential candidate and all-around-hero to liberty Ron Paul was slated to speak.
Derrick Slopey and Ron Paul at the Nexus Conference
According to witness and photographer Derrick Slopey, it all happened fast as Ron exited the stage. Stone was able to get his attention, unfurled the Declaration and asked if he’d sign it. Ron said, “Sure, I agree with all of this” and added his signature.
The copy of the Declaration was the same Declaration that others at the conference had been signing, including Roger Ver aka “Bitcoin Jesus”. However, you can’t see any other signatures in the photos below besides Ron Paul’s as Stone is super-protective of the privacy of the signers on his declaration.
Kudos to Ron Paul for the amazing endorsement! Also thanks to Stone for being the one to ask him and Derrick for the photos. When we created it, I don’t think anyone imagined Ron Paul would join the Shire Society. What an awesome surprise and amazing validation for the Shire Society Declaration!
Many Shire Society members are moving to New Hampshire to concentrate libertarian action in one spot. You can connect with others already here and those planning to move on the Shire Forum.
Here are pics of Ron’s signature on the document: (more…)
