by Ian | Sep 5, 2016 |
Manchester, NH Bitcoin Meetup
It’s not a coincidence that New Hampshire has arguably the highest concentration of bitcoin and crypto-friendly people anywhere. For more than a decade there have been active migrations of libertarian, voluntarist, and liberty anarchists moving to New Hampshire. Many of these movers are activists who are into alternative currencies and the bitcoin community here has exploded as a result.
The oldest migration of libertarians to New Hampshire is the Free State Project, which as of September 2016 boasts nearly 2,000 participants already in New Hampshire, with 18,000 more pledged to move by the year 2021. There’s also the more decentralized Shire Society which has been encouraging liberty-loving people to declare their personal independence and move to “The Shire” since 2010.
These early movers are not only users of bitcoin, but are also some of the key developers and creators of the bitcoin world. Liberty migrants to New Hampshire created the iconic, most-installed-in-the-world Lamassu bitcoin vending machine in Manchester. Some are developing the evolutionary “Open Bazaar” and “LBRY” software. Decentralized ride-sharing app “Arcade City” has also sprung up just this year, and within a week of it being announced, signed up 1000 drivers worldwide. Arcade City founder and liberty migrant Christopher David said, “With its libertarian leanings and an influx of free staters, New Hampshire is perfectly positioned to become a major hub for bitcoin and blockchain startups. That’s a big reason why I moved here.”
Bitcoin Outreach Booth at the Cheshire Fair
Here are some more fun facts about the burgeoning bitcoin scene in the Shire: Manchester is home to the world’s longest-running weekly bitcoin meetup, plus regular meetups are being held in Keene and the Seacoast. According to Overstock.com, the highest concentration of their bitcoin orders comes from New Hampshire. Plus, you can actually use bitcoin in real life here, at mom-n-pop businesses like “Corner News”, “Local Burger”, and multiple food trucks in Keene, plus “Pizza 911”, “Dancing Lion Chocolate”, and more in Manchester. It turns out that Keene, the Southwestern NH city of 23,000 people, even outdoes San Francisco in amount of bitcoin-accepting business per capita! Take a look at CoinMap.org to see the dozens of New Hampshire businesses that are taking crypto!
New Hampshire also boasts New England’s only public Bitcoin Vending Machines (BVM), connecting people with bitcoin from as far away as New York and Boston. (more…)
by Ian | Aug 16, 2016 |
NH #1 Most Free State – 2016
At the bottom of the charts, number fifty is New York, which is a long distance below number forty-nine, California. Where did your state rank? You can check out the interactive map or dig into the well-researched nearly 300 page study on their site.
With all the freedoms we have in NH, no wonder so many people who love freedom are moving here. Not only is there the most successful libertarian migration in the world happening here, but before that started there were already over 101 Reasons Liberty Lives in New Hampshire. Originally a persuasive text list, in recent years it was made into an excellent hour-long documentary which you can watch for free.
If you are a libertarian or voluntarist and don’t yet have plans to move here to New Hampshire, why are you waiting? Thanks to migrations like the Shire Society and Free State Project, there are thousands of liberty-minded people who’ve already moved here in the last decade and thousands more pledged to come.
Concentration of libertarian activists into a small, low-population state like New Hampshire makes all the difference in the world for accomplishing our goal of liberty in our lifetime. If you’re tired of the continued failures of the libertarian movement, get to New Hampshire ASAP.
For more on the study, we dug in deep on last night’s Free Talk Live:
by Ian | Aug 12, 2016 |
Isabelle Rose, owner Bon Vivant – Gourmet Street Food
Chef and entrepreneur Isabelle Rose is cooking up delicious Vietnamese, French, and Vegetarian fare at reasonable prices. She told me that the food truck had been a dream of hers since 2009 when she started to make Vietnamese food for the local farmers market. Her food was very popular there and she started saving money up to launch Bon Vivant without going into debt. Smart lady! I stopped in this week for the first time and enjoyed a large bowl of steak pho noodle. It was delicious and very filling. I’m excited to have more ethnic food available fresh in Keene!
Not only is the food excellent, but Bon Vivant is accepting payment in bitcoin! Isabelle says she decided to accept bitcoin after reading about it here at Free Keene and being encouraged by Chris Rietmann, the owner of next-door Route 101 Local Goods. Just today she says three customers have noticed the bitcoin sign and asked what it is.
Steak Pho Noodle @ Bon Vivant
Keene’s not the only area of New Hampshire where bitcoin acceptance is spreading. Free Keene blogger Steven Zeiler recently announced that a major Portsmouth restaurant is now accepting bitcoin.
Keene’s Bon Vivant is already visible on the CoinMap – a website that shows the locations of bitcoin-accepting businesses around the world. Per capita, Keene has more bitcoin-friendly businesses than does San Francisco, the supposed #1 place for bitcoin acceptance. With a population of over 837,000, San Francisco has, according to CoinMap, about 114 bitcoin-accepting businesses – that’s one for every 7,342 population. By comparison, Keene has over 23,000 population with 13 bitcoin businesses – that’s one for every 1,769. Keene has four times the concentration than does San Francisco.
To learn more about bitcoin, the amazingly successful decentralized cryptocurrency, visit Bitcoin.com and to join the local network of bitcoin-accepting merchants and customers, check out the Keene Bitcoin Network on facebook.
Bon Vivant and Route 101 Local Goods
by Derrick Horton | Jul 24, 2016 |
I organized an NHexit event in Portsmouth this Friday called “NH Independence Celebration“. People from Keene, Manchester, Nashua, and Portsmouth attended. Dave Ridley of New Hampshire’s #2 YouTube channel shot video from a safe distance across the street. Shire Dude live-streamed video while making commentary and chatting with curious passers by. One person waved a blue flag with a peace sign. Another waved a yellow “Don’t Tread on Me” flag and a sign that read, “I LOVE AMERICA, NOT D.C.” Some conducted a 3-question poll about secession from a random sampling of Portsmouth’s downtown. Music by The Beatles played from a small portable speaker. In total the event was 1 hour.
Poll respondents were asked to read 3 short statements and rate their level of agreement or disagreement with each one. 17 people participated. The results are as follows (click image to enlarge):
(more…)
by Ian | May 7, 2016 |
Bitcoin Vending Machine at Twin Mountain Country Store
Store owner Bill Bochynski decided to install the “General Bytes” brand BVM, the same type found at Murphy’s Taproom in Manchester after seeing the unit in operation there. He cited the Keene BVM, operated by the Shire Free Church, as his original inspiration for adding a BVM to the North Country. When asked for comment, he quoted Black Swan author Nassim Taleb:
Bitcoin is the beginning of something great: a currency without a government, something necessary and imperative.
Bochynski thinks its important to bring easy access to bitcoin to the impoverished North Country, where the financial freedom bitcoin can bring could have a real positive impact.
You can visit the Twin Mountain BVM seven-days-a-week from 7am to Midnight. NH is still the only place in New England to feature a Bitcoin Vending Machine open to the public – and now we have three! NH’s bitcoin community just keeps getting better – when are you moving here?
The “General Bytes” Bitcoin Vending Machine at Twin Mountain Country Store in NH
by Ian | Mar 26, 2016 |
UBER Grandma Stephanie Franz, courtesy CBS Boston
Two weeks ago, Porstmouth, NH police chief David Mara announced a coming attack against peaceful UBER drivers who are ignoring the oppressive city ordinance that basically outlaws ride-sharing. The city and its cops are running a protection racket for the existing cab companies and this weekend appears to be the first round of aggression as UBER Grandma Stephanie Franz has announced that she received two tickets for driving people home safely on Friday night.
Stephanie, who has become the face of the Free UBER movement, has now racked up six tickets for at least $5,000 seven tickets totaling $7,500 that she is taking to court soon with the help of an UBER-supplied attorney. All of this for helping people avoid getting DUIs.
She’s now not the only one. At least one other Portsmouth UBER driver reports receiving a ticket already this weekend and Saturday night is just getting started as I’m writing this.
Though Stephanie did not join UBER to become a civil disobedience superstar, she appears to have embraced her role and has even taken to task the four cowardly UBER drivers in Portsmouth who have obediently jumped through the city’s hoops and registered like good little slaves. She wrote today in a post to the Free UBER page on facebook:
Why is it that 4 uber drivers have registered with the town of Portsmouth? Don’t you know what this is doing? Every time I’ve been pulled over, part of the statement from the officers has been why don’t you just go on and register…. 4 others already have. I have stuck my neck out for all Uber drivers in the Portsmouth area. I feel that you four have stabbed me in the back. You’re free to do what you want to do but I take offense to you
registering. I can call you something but I’m not. Just remember the next time you see me pulled over with the blue lights flashing I am taking one for all of us even you.
Just to let you other Uber drivers know, they are going to be pulling over Uber drivers tonight. I will be there anyway.
Stay tuned here to Free Keene for the latest on the Free UBER saga.
UPDATED: 9:30pm Eastern – Stephanie reports via facebook that she has received her third ticket this weekend, her seventh total, bringing the total fines to $7,500.
