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Major Portsmouth Restaurant Accepts Bitcoin; Supporting New Hampshire’s ‘Free State’ Movement

Last Updated May 16, 2023 9:19 AM
Lester Coleman
Last Updated May 16, 2023 9:19 AM

A restaurant in Portsmouth, N.H. now accepts bitcoin, according to Free Keene , a pro-decentralization and pro-bitcoin organization in New Hampshire, which is a very independence-minded state in the U.S. Keene, N.H. is the base of a “free state” movement in New Hampshire.

street restaurant image

The restaurant, called Street , is in the west end of Portsmouth, and it accepts bitcoin for everything on the menu, which features a global menu including lamb shawarma, Singapore salad, empanadas, pho, falafel, bánh mì, and bibimbap (a Korean dish). Street calls itself an eclectic, casual restaurant that satisfies both hunger and wanderlust.

Free Keene encourages its readers to support the restaurant and includes the address of the restaurant’s bitcoin wallet.

A Decentralization Movement

Free Keene claims government coercion is entrenched in society. While people are led to believe the government is good, Free Keene believes it is wrong to force people to pay for unwanted services or to threaten people to make them do things they don’t want to do. It claims that government “solutions” create more problems than they solve, citing the War on Drugs.

The next suggested step is toward a voluntary society, which Free Keene believes is accomplished using market-based actions. It calls its movement evolution as opposed to revolution. Free Keene offers free audio books and encourages people to move to Keene to join its voluntary society.

New Hampshire’s Free State Project

The Free State Project in New Hampshire is an effort to move 20,000 liberty-minded people to a low-populated state that has an existing pro-freedom culture.

A film “101 Reasons: Liberty Lives in New Hampshire” explores how the revolutionary technology and currency of bitcoin fit into its public mindset. The “101 Reasons list” has helped inspire thousands of activists and entrepreneurs to sign up for the Free State Project and continue New Hampshire’s reputation as a beacon of liberty.

Also read: Bitcoin machine turns one-year-old in New Hampshire, symbolizing the libertarian Free State Movement

Public Bitcoin Machine

A bitcoin vending machine in front of a store in Keene, N.H. attracts visitors from throughout the region, CCN.com reported in November. The machine, which could be the only public bitcoin vending machine in New England, draws attention from its association with the libertarian Free State Movement.

Ian Freeman, a member of the Free State Project who hosts a live talk show, noted that people drive up from Boston, Mass. and New York City since the machine is the only public bitcoin machine anywhere in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine or New York. The Shire Free Church, of which Freeman is the pastor, provided the bitcoin machine for the store. The Shire Free Church is battling Keene in an attempt to be tax-free.

Featured image from Shutterstock. Story image from Street’s website.