Now, I’m happy to announce we have passed the one year mark of having a publicly-accessible BVM operating in Keene!
Our customers range from young to old from all across the Northeast, because sadly, the Keene BVM is the only publicly accessible BVM (or ATM) in all of ME, NH, VT, MA, CT, RI, and Upstate NY. New York, the Empire State, has cracked down on the bitcoin industry there, resulting Albany and Buffalo losing their machines in 2015 and for some reason all the units listed on the Coin ATM Radar site for Boston are shut off or gone (at least that’s what the customers who drive to Keene from Boston have told us.) Hopefully this will change, as not everyone is willing to drive for hours to purchase bitcoin.
It’s important to note that the Keene Bitcoin Vending Machine is not an ATM, though many confuse the two terms. The machine vends bitcoins for cash. It does not do the reverse. The machine is stocked with bitcoin (click to see our wallet’s status and all transactions) and sells from that stock. The BVM is not making buys on an exchange. Machines that do that have ridiculous identification requirements. Your bitcoin is your business and as a customer of the church, your privacy is respected. (While our machine does not require identification, there are security cameras monitoring the store premises.)
Come on out to the store and try the machine at 661 Marlboro Street (Route 101) in Keene, six days per week. Hours are Tuesday – Saturday 10a-6p and Sunday 11a-5p.
This is a live event that will feature multiple broadcast updates. If the above video is not live, you can access the footage on Shire Dude’s Bambuser account.
UPDATES:
The protest remained peaceful throughout the night, despite encounters I had with a couple of unsavory characters. Christopher David arrived (over 100 ft. away from the tavern, due to bail restrictions), and I convinced the owner of Daniel Street Tavern to have a conversation with him. State Representative Eric Schleien showed up and had a conversation with the bar owner, asking her if she understood economics or the fact that the state creates monopolies (referring to the taxi cartel). The bar owner became upset after this, and she even flagged down the cops in an attempt to break up the protest. The Portsmouth PD declined her request.
Unsavory Character #1 attempts to start a fight with confusing homoerotic language
Unsavory Character #2 attempts to stand in front of my camera
Owner of Daniel Street Tavern pleads for the Portsmouth PD to break up the protest
Christopher David stations himself 100+ ft. from the event, due to bail restrictions
The crackdown on Uber (check out the first installment in this story here) has escalated in Portsmouth, as the first Uber driver has been issued a $500 citation for peacefully attempting to drive people home after a night of drinking. The target of police aggression in this case was Stephanie Franz, a 63 year old grandmother and bus-driver who has been driving for Uber in her spare time.
This story was first reported by Seacoast Online, who got a great quote from Franz when they called to interview her:
“I can’t speak for what Uber’s going to do,” she said. “It’s up to them. But I hope this gets worked out so I don’t have to keep playing cat-and-mouse with the police.”
Do you hear that, city of Portsmouth? You haven’t even managed to scare Stephanie Franz. She and the other Uber drivers will continue to play your cat and mouse games, and liberty activists in New Hampshire will continue to shine light upon your protectionist scheming.
Here’s a video from the leader of freeuber.org – activist Christopher David – who catches a little bit of the stop, and provides some context as to what’s been going on in Portsmouth recently.
After watching the video, the question remains – why are the Portsmouth police sending multiple police cars to stop peaceful people from helping their neighbors get home from a night of drinking in exchange for a smaller fee than the local taxi cartel?
Christopher David Threatened by Snitching Bouncer from Daniel Street Tavern
According to David, the police officer recorded in his initial video called him to say that the bouncer who snitched on him for offering Uber rides is upset and “threatening to press charges” because Christopher allegedly didn’t get his permission to record their interaction. We’ll keep you updated as that situation progresses.
If you want to support Christopher in his heroic efforts to nullify the Uber ban in Portsmouth (and perhaps lay a groundwork for nullifying these ridiculous bans worldwide), head over to FreeUber.org and get involved.
For additional coverage of the Free Uber movement in Portsmouth, check out Rights Brigade, a New Hampshire based activism group that has been assisting Christopher in canvassing the city with flyers to raise awareness for the city council’s protectionist schemes.
On Saturday, October 10th, Free State Project early mover and Keenevention keynote speaker Christopher David was peacefully offering a very valuable service to the people of Portsmouth – late night rides home at a far faster and more affordable rate than the local taxi monopoly.
He was picking up some eager customers outside of the Daniel Street Tavern when he was threatened with $500-$1,000 ransom for trying to help them return home.
He recorded some incredible audio of the incident, which you can watch and listen to below.
There’s an absolutely incredible customer rant leveled at a taxi driver who attempts to box David in, which you really have to listen to for yourself. Aside from his shocking directness, the customer also points out,
I took a cab once from here to Hampton, where I’m living, and it was $60. I take an Uber, it’s $28 – it’s a nicer car, and it’s nicer people.
So, why would the city of Portsmouth possibly want to shut down a business that customers enjoy so thoroughly?
Perhaps even more to the point, why would the bouncer at the Daniel Street Tavern (you can leave them a review here, as I have) be chasing down police offers to tell them of an Uber driver trying to get his customer home to safety?
Taxi services on the Seacoast are notoriously slow to respond to customer inquiries, and are also known to shut down before bars have last call. Uber was filling this niche in the marketplace very nicely, until the Portsmouth city council decided to ban Uber this summer.
This leads to a very dangerous situation for all drivers in the Portsmouth area, giving incentive for more drivers to be on the road while impaired. It’s one thing for a city council to attack the people of Portsmouth. That’s pretty much what city councils do. But bouncers at private institutions, who should theoretically have a vested interest in their customer’s safety? It’s downright irresponsible.
If you want to support Christopher in his heroic efforts to nullify the Uber ban in Portsmouth (and perhaps lay a groundwork for nullifying these ridiculous bans worldwide), head over to FreeUber.org and get involved.
For additional coverage of the Free Uber movement in Portsmouth, check out Rights Brigade, a New Hampshire based activism group that has been assisting Christopher in canvassing the city with flyers to raise awareness for the city council’s protectionist schemes.
Free Keene broke the news last week about the UBER driver and Free State Project early mover in Portsmouth who has been flagrantly violating the city’s prohibition of the innovative ride-sharing service. Christopher David has courageously stepped out into the limelight and announced to the world, and more specifically the Portsmouth city council and police that he’s continuing to give people illegal rides around the Seacoast city.
Now, mainstream media has picked up the story of Christopher’s heroic civil disobedience in this Seacoast Online story by Elizabeth Dinan. Christopher reports on his facebook that he and another activist have posted 100 flyers around downtown Portsmouth promoting his new website, FREEUBER.org that is encouraging Portsmouth’s inhabitants to contact the city council (it provides their contact info), boycott the snitch cab companies, and sign up as an UBER driver to join the ranks of the civilly disobedient!
Stay tuned here to Free Keene as this saga develops!
It’s important to note that the Keene Bitcoin Vending Machine is not an ATM, though many confuse the two terms. The machine vends bitcoins for cash. It does not do the reverse. The machine is stocked with bitcoin (click to see our wallet’s status and all transactions) and sells from that stock. The BVM is not making buys on an exchange. Machines that do that have ridiculous identification requirements. Your bitcoin is your business and as a customer of the church, your privacy is respected. (While our machine does not require identification, there are security cameras monitoring the store premises.)
