The Bitcoin Basin
Queenstown is the place. Bitcoin is its foundation.
A project to make Queenstown an example of just what a Bitcoin circular economy looks like. Not a concept, a real town, with real merchants and real residents and visitors. Living, working, playing and spending sound money.
What we're building
A merchant network
We onboard and support local Queenstown businesses to accept Bitcoin via Lightning. Coffees, dinners, hotels, ski passes, tours, transfers. Every step of a visitor's day. Every part of a resident's lifestyle.
A community
As word gets out, more and more bitcoiners are moving to Queenstown. Entrepreneurs, families, builders, miners, retirees. We hold regular merchant nights, working bees, and informal gatherings.
A regular summit
The Sovereignty Summit is the moment the world gets to see the Basin in action. Two days at Coronet Peak. Up to a week of using sound money in the stunning South Island of New Zealand.
A long view
The Bitcoin Basin is a project that we want to last a long time. We're building for hyperbitcoinalisation. Laying foundations that create value for the future.
Why Queenstown
Queenstown is perfect as a Bitcoin Hub. Right Place, Right People, Right Economy.
Queenstown is small enough that you can still get to know your local cafe owner. So beautiful that visitors keep coming back. It's a town with an identity built on hospitality, adventure, and a slightly contrarian streak.
And it sits at the bottom of a long migration of freedom-minded people. It's a melting pot of visitors and residents who come from all four corners of the globe.
We picked Queenstown because it can be a nexus of money, but also a centre of community.
The merchant map
Get involved
Three pathways
If you're a Queenstown merchant
We'll handle the Lightning setup, the staff training, and the listing on the Basin map. There is no cost to participate.
Get in touch →If you're a Bitcoiner thinking of moving here
Come to the Summit first. Stay an extra week. See if the place fits. We hold regular gatherings working bees, merchant nights, dinners.
Subscribe to updates →If you want to support the work
The Bitcoin Basin Trust accepts donations in Bitcoin. Every sat goes back into onboarding merchants, hosting events, and running the Summit.
Donate via Lightning →The structure
The Bitcoin Basin Trust is a New Zealand trust formed to hold and govern the broader Basin work. The Sovereignty Summit is run through Sovereignty Events Limited, a separate company wholly owned by the Trust.
This separation keeps the commercial side of the Summit cleanly distinct from the long-term community work and means every dollar the Summit makes flows back into the Basin.