Promoting Bitcoin bit by bit
Making Queenstown Bitcoin-friendly is the aim of a new community-led initiative.
Arrowtowner Nell Hunter has started 'The Bitcoin Basin', a movement "focused on helping local businesses, educating the public and creating a circular economy where Bitcoin can be earned and spent locally".
Bitcoin, which has been used as a currency since 2009, is the world's first and only decentralised digital currency.
Hunter is backed by local-based payment platform Lightning Pay, co-founded by local computer scientist Rob Clarkson, which allows businesses to accept Bitcoin at point of sale, with the option to either accept it or convert it into New Zealand dollars within 24 hours.
Hunter says she's also supported by local professionals including Derek Roth-Biester "and others who view Bitcoin not as a speculative gamble, but as a secure store of value and a practical, sound means of payment, especially in a time of rising inflation".
She and colleagues recently met with local MP Joseph Mooney and will soon present their vision to MPs in Wellington.
They're also exhibiting at Host-Tech — a showcase of Queenstown hospo and tourism technology — on May 22.
Hunter: "We want Bitcoiners from around the world to come here, spend here and support local businesses.
"Governments and states around the world are taking Bitcoin seriously.
"We want to make sure NZ doesn't fall behind."
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