ANOTHER New Hampshire restaurant now takes bitcoin! STREET, a trendy restaurant on the hipster West End of Portsmouth became the latest business in the Live Free Or Die state to trade goods and services for the new money. I stopped by with my partner Steven to have Sunday Brunch. He had biscuits and gravy with an avocado omelette. I had bacon and avocado in Scrambled eggs with a Hash brown. When we were done, we paid in bitcoin! Thanks STREET!
Not only will Keene area inhabitants be hearing about Bitcoin on the radio waves via Shire Bitcoin’s new ad campaign, but they’ll also be learning more about Bitcoin on cable television. Viewers of Cheshire TV, the area’s public access channel, will at times encounter this under-six-minute introduction to Bitcoin video, which includes video versions of the audio promos airing on radio.
If you’re a bitcoiner who’d like to contribute to this ad run, please send bitcoin to 137bAdkwoqzVMoR6WUR6Qn9vqvuG991wFH
Bitcoin Ads to Air 3p-6a on The Peak, Daily!
Keene is unique in that it has a higher bitcoin-accepting-business-per-capita ratio than even San Francisco, the purported #1 city for bitcoin-accepting businesses. As you’ll hear in the radio ads, bitcoin is a powerful local currency that can also be used internationally. “It’s Keene to buy local”, and Bitcoin empowers local business owners to keep more from each sale, rather than sending three percent outside of the area to credit card companies.
The Peak’s Three FM Transmitters from Keene to Western Vermont
In addition, the first ad in the series specifically mentions several local mom-and-pop businesses that are accepting bitcoin, at no cost to those businesses. The entire budget for the ad campaign, which starts on October 10th, is directly sourced from our bitcoin vending efforts.
The first ad will start immediately and the second ad will be put in rotation a few weeks in. The first ad is an introduction to Bitcoin for the Keene area consumer and the second targets local business owners. Here they are:
Ad 1:
Ad 2:
“The Peak” (heard on 101.9 WKKN-FM Keene, 100.7 WTHK-FM Wilmington, VT, and 104.7 W284AB Jamaica, VT) will be the only radio stations where the ads will be heard for now, as we can’t afford to air them on every local station. The Peak seemed like the best choice as its “Adult Album Alternative” music format and local branding likely attracts listeners who deeply appreciate the buy local message. Listeners will be able to hear the Bitcoin ads multiple times from 3p-6a, seven days a week, starting today.
This is a historic moment for Bitcoin. While Bitcoin has had radio ads in the past, they were purchased (by Roger Ver aka “Bitcoin Jesus”) on my radio show, Free Talk Live and its network, LRN.FM. Though FTL is heard on over 160 radio stations, this Keene ad campaign marks the first time bitcoin has ever been promoted heavily in one geographic area via one of the oldest forms of media, radio. Stay tuned here to Free Keene for the latest from the bitcoin capital of the New Hampshire and maybe even the world, Keene.
If you’re a bitcoiner who’d like to contribute to this ad run, please send bitcoin to 137bAdkwoqzVMoR6WUR6Qn9vqvuG991wFH
Representative Barbara Biggie of Milford Vows to File Bill Repealing NH’s Lone Cryptocurrency Regulation
However, when asking each commission member what they want to do, representative Barbara Biggie of Milford said her concern is that regulation will “snuff the industry, the cryptocurrency industry in New Hampshire and around the country, so I think we should stay out of it right now, regulating-wise”. Hunt asked Biggie if she’d sponsor a bill to repeal the lone existing regulation which authorizes the banking department to license businesses as “money transmitters” who transmit “convertible virtual currency”, and she said she would!
While banking department representative Maryam Torben-Desfosses claimed they are not considering Bitcoin Vending Machines or businesses or individuals who accept and spend bitcoin as “money transmitters”, that did not assuage the concerns of the bitcoiners in the room. Those who attended the previous meeting were surprised at Desfosses’ claim that attendees at the last meeting saw value in the banking department’s regulation. Just in case the state representatives also misremembered the last meeting’s public comments, the people at this meeting (which included new faces from last time) again spoke firmly against any regulation whatsoever.
It’s frequently said that working inside the system is a waste of time, but in New Hampshire many state reps will listen to you and showing up and being heard absolutely made a difference here. That said, we need more liberty-oriented crypto-enthusiasts to move here and get active. Please join the Shire Society today and start planning your move to New Hampshire.
You can watch the full second (and final for 2016) meeting of the commission here:
All speakers were pro-liberty and against regulation.
The audience was filled with mostly liberty-friendly folks. There were a few lobbyists present, but the only one who spoke was Darryl W Perry of the new Liberty Lobby LLC. The overall message from the speakers was against any regulations whatsoever, and the chairman of the committee, Representative John Hunt of Rindge, spoke favorably of the free market and seemed against any regulations. There was only one real proponent of regulation, Maryam Torben-Desfosses. She was representing the NH Banking Department and it’s her job to regulate, so it’s no surprise she was there speaking in favor.
The goal of the commission is to either recommend for or against regulation of cryptocurrency. After hearing from several speakers, the commission scheduled its next meeting for October 6th at 10am, room 302 of the Legislative Office Building in Concord.
David Brooks of Granite Geek has a good preview writeup of the meeting on his site with a full article coming. Here’s the full video:
I could technically still be in jail today for the “crimes” from the movie.
Derrick J’s Victimless Crime Spree, a full-length feature documentary about my five arrests in Keene, New Hampshire, unleashed itself to the world in Keene Cinemas four years ago today. It’s been viewed on YouTube over 175,000 times.
The world has changed since then. Recording law enforcers is now commonplace. Enforcers in a dozen more states now leave peaceful pot smokers alone. The top series on Netflix is a show about prison overpopulation. Everyone knows that the people calling themselves “the government” spy on their computers, emails, phone calls, and texts, but digital privacy is now possible for all thanks to new apps and devices with built-in encryption. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are now beginning to come into wide use.
There’s a lot of reason to be hopeful. Now more than ever, the world is ready for you to question your obedience. Dozens have told me the movie inspired them to move to New Hampshire. That’s the most rewarding part of the experience. In the end, I was facing 9 years if convicted of all charges (none involving a victim). I was sentenced to 540 days in jail, and I ended up serving 60 for my “crime spree.”
Friends made it possible: Ian Freeman (producer), Beau Davis (editor), and the people of the Shire Society who inspire action. I hope Victimless Crime Spree inspires you to achieve more freedom, peace, happiness, and the object of your dreams.
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