This is an opinion editorial by Heidi Porter, an entrepreneur with 35 years of technology, Ben, a Gen Z bitcoin evangelist and a business owner, artist and node whisperer za or za za.
Have you heard the exciting news? There’s a new bitcoin beach in the world! It is the farthest north of any Bitcoin Beach enclave, located on 130 acres of private property in central Michigan.
Bitcoin Beach on Satoshi Lake sits at latitude 42.9272437 north. Bitcoin Beach North and Lake Satoshi are both searchable on Google Maps.
This bitcoin beach will freeze even in winter, and turn into a hotspot for ice fishing!
The first annual Bitcoin Beach BBQ was held on Saturday August 20, 2022. About 70-85 bitcoiners and pre-coiners came from all around Michigan to camp out, hang out, eat out and talk. Learn about bitcoin.
Hanging out with bitcoiners – in real life – with sand and sun and some hard seltzer was beyond spectacular. The conversation went smoothly. No phone calls and texting, just lots of vast and varied bitcoin topics and conversations.
Mike Smith has owned the property since 1992, which was originally purchased as a gravel pit to serve his excavation company. Most recently, in March of 2021, the lake was rechristened as Satoshi Lake and Bitcoin Beach North. At the BBQ, Smith gave a presentation on bitcoin and handed out some sets, shirts and swags to ex-coiners attending the event. Learn about bitcoin.
Yet another bitcoiner “Ben” worked his bitcoiner butt off to create the inaugural BBQ at the Bitcoin Beach North event and a welcome to all. He has been a bitcoiner since high school, so he made good money at the young age of 17. Ben now helps Bitcoin 101 with marketing and education.
The third member of the Bitcoin 101 trio is PF. Smith and PF worked together in the 90s and were reunited through bitcoin. PF is responsible for maintaining the Bitcoin 101 website as well as the Michigan Plebian Mesh network. More on that, in the next article.
An example sign post showing the benefits to important bitcoin destinations and companies. A lot of time was spent around the totem sign – discussing the various points and meanings, and who should (or should not) be connected. There was also a pointer that wasn’t obvious to most people before, which is a fun quiz to see if you can guess it correctly. We all spent time thinking and talking about it, and eventually some of us got it. You have to see it to make your guess!
As spectacular as the event was, it is only a small part of what is happening around bitcoin education and community in Bitcoin Beach North and Michigan and surrounding areas.
Mike Smith runs Bitcoin 101, a bitcoin education and services office that resides in a historic bank building in Ovid, Michigan – about 6 miles north of Bitcoin Beach on Satoshi Lake.
Smith set his intention to have a bitcoin service office in an old bank building. However, to his surprise, the first bank he saw to buy would not sell them because he was promoting bitcoin!
Like a lot of obstacles in life, Smith says the setback was ultimately a blessing as he found a better building just 5 minutes from Bitcoin Beach North. By a stroke of luck, Smith was driving near the bank one day and saw a sign for sale in the window. This time he was more secretive about his intention to turn it into a bitcoin education hub, and it worked!
The current building is a historic treasure and a history lesson in fiat banking, containing bank deposit slips from the 1800s and a mechanical bank vault that was constructed in Hamilton, Ohio. Today, the safe is secured with a hybrid of digital and mechanical locks.
Smith and his bitcoin team are making historical demonstrations about money past and future. They also run various bitcoin miners that heat the office. very Cold Michigan winters.
Noting that Bitcoin 101 and Bitcoin Beach are not far from the Michigan State Capitol in North Lansing, Smith expects to sit down with local legislators, business owners and residents during their upcoming monthly meetup. The first Mid-Michigan Meetup will take place on Wednesday, October 19. See the Bitcoin101.io site for details.
Several other bitcoin meetups currently take place throughout the state in Michigan, in the areas of Grand Rapids, Detroit and Benton Harbor (home of the Whirlpool equipment maker, not the CoinJoin implementation).
If you’re ever in Michigan, check out Bitcoin 101 and Bitcoin Beach North – Summer or Winter!
Bitcoiners in Michigan are going strong for bitcoin’s censorship-resistant, sound money.
This is a guest post by Heidi Porter. The opinions expressed are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.