How Crypto Is Becoming the Fiat Currency Alternative in Freedom-Loving New Hampshire
Monetary freedom and free market ideas have long been a part of my DNA. Embedded in every fiber of my daily work as a blockchain and digital economy journalist, it reflects a larger mission of mine which is the advancement of global freedom through technology.
For this reason the liberty movement in the State of New Hampshire continues to capture my fascination. Known for it motto Live Free or Die, the Granite State is arguably the epicenter of freedom and self-sovereignty in the U.S.
In 1944, a resort nestled in the northern White Mountains of New Hampshire was the scene of a historic accord of global economic repute. Known as the Bretton Woods accord this meeting of world political leaders fueled the emergence of the U.S. dollar as the global reserve currency.
Another development of greater significance which ensued from this event was the proposed Bancor International Currency Union. You’ll see that it reads in a eerily similar manner as what we now know today as Bitcoin.
Given these historical roots, New Hampshire’s ascension as an emerging epicenter for the cryptocurrency movement should come as no surprise. In fact, one crypto that is seeing growing interest among merchants and consumers in that state is DASH.
This was recently highlighted in a report by the independent journalist Ben Swann. It features New Hampshire resident Joel Valenzuela and his ambitious quest to live solely on DASH digital currency.
Beyond The Granite State
In a recent announcement that promises to exponentially boost the global consumer use of cryptocurrency worldwide, Dash officials announced a partnership with Rewards.com, a leading loyalty rewards website that incentivizes purchases through its unique cashback program.
Scheduled for full launch by Q4 of 2018, customers will have the ability to earn and redeem Dash at over 7,000 retailers globally. The U.S.-based Rewards.com allows customers to shop for electronics, apparel, travel, health and beauty, and department stores on thousands of online stores and earn a percentage of cash back on total purchases. Included here are discounts with top brands such as Macy’s, Nike, Neiman Marcus, Walmart, Samsung, and Home Depot.
At the moment, Rewards.com users can earn Dash on purchases made on the platform. Users can transfer the Dash to their off-site wallets, or choose to keep it in their Rewards.com account for future purchases. Full integration of Dash functionality, which will include the ability to make purchases with Dash, will be completed in Q4 2018.
When I reached out to Dash Core Group Director of Business Development Bradley Zastrow, he had this to say:
“Our partnership with Rewards.com is important because it represents an easy way for the everyday person to try out and experiment with Dash — we’re removing barriers to entry. When fully launched, Rewards.com users will be able to spend their Dash within that same merchant network, instantly expanding the footprint of where people can spend their Dash.”
Zastrow went on to make an important point, one that will certainly influence which crypto I’ll personally chose for everyday use in the future:
“The user experience has to be familiar and the use case has to be relevant for the mainstream consumer. This will be the same user experience to which users of Rewards.com are already familiar and the quantity and quality of Rewards.com merchant partners almost guarantees relevance to any consumer”
He continues:
“Once fully launched, people will be able to use their Dash to pay for purchases at any of Rewards.com 7,000 merchants. This completes the ecosystem and people will get accustomed to participating using only Dash. That ecosystem becomes a closed loop once they are acquiring Dash, storing Dash, and further spending their Dash. And our goal is from there that this familiarity and comfort gets extended into additional facets of their lives.”
A “Free State” of Monetary Freedom
The Free State Project, advocates of the movement of freedom-loving people to New Hampshire has played a pivotal role in championing the use of cryptocurrency for everyday commerce in the state. Evidence of this form of economic exchange will be in full display at PorcFest, the project’s major liberty event of the year. It will be held June 19th through the 24th in Lancaster, NH.
Says Rachel Goldsmith, FSP’s Interim Executive Director
“PorcFest is the world’s largest gathering of freedom folk. Also known as the Porcupine Freedom Festival, this weeklong agorist festival style conference includes talks from liberty thought leaders, workshops, classes, games, music, and a nightly bonfire.”
Describing what the experience is like at the event, Goldsmith had this to share with me:
“PorcFest is what you make of it. There are families free ranging their kids (walkie-talkies are making a comeback here!) and there are vendors who take FRN, precious metals, and crypto, and there are a dozen serious conversations about the NAP at the campfire. And everyone is on the blockchain.”
Notes Goldsmith in response to my question about the culture of economic exchange that pervades PorcFest along with the advancement of Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency in New Hampshire:
“New Hampshire is the #1 state in the world for cryptocurrency, thanks to Free Staters. The first BitCoin ATM was built and used here. And more retailers take crypto here than anywhere else. A Free Stater is the official crypto adviser to the Governor. And when Overstock.com opened its doors to BTC, 90% of sales on Day 1 were in New Hampshire.”
Goldsmith says that The Free State Project has been accepting BTC since 2011, and now takes about a dozen cryptos for donations, ticket purchases, and merchandise sales. She says that Roger Ver was camping at PorcFest in 2009 and some say it’s where Satoshi first started coding.
When asked for a final comment on the general libertarian ethos around monetary freedom symbolized by the Free State movement and at PorcFest, Goldsmith concludes:
“Many Free Staters want to #EndTheFed. Getting off of the centralized banks is a key step in reducing the size and scope of the federal government, and cryptocurrencies are the most realistic and viable opportunities to achieve that. There’s also a solid argument towards anonymous, digital value transfers that liberty people like. What an individual spends their money on is their business, and the business of the receiving party. No one else’s.”
