Imagine a pirate ship cruising through Tampa Bay, its sails emblazoned with the orange bitcoin logo, while 400,000 onlookers cheer—not for treasure, but for sound money. This isn’t fiction; it’s the audacious reality Bitcoin Bay Foundation is building.
Born from the oldest bitcoin meetup in the U.S., this 501(c)3 etched its name into the blockchain at height 790,339, forging a circular economy where bitcoin buys beef, fixes cars, and even funds dental care—all without fiat’s corrosive touch.
Building on Bitcoin
- What inspired the creation of Bitcoin Bay Foundation, and how does the “est. 790,339 se/acc” timestamp tie into your story?
Bitcoin Bay Foundation forked off of the existing Tampa Bay bitcoineers meetup, the longest active running meetup in the country. We became the first bitcoin meetup to incorporate as a 501(c)3 at block height 790,339, nearly 2 years on May 18th 2023. 
- How do you define a “circular bitcoin economy,” and what role does sound money play in achieving this vision?
We envision a circular bitcoin economy as one where you only need to cash out into fiat if you wish. It’s a community where you can buy your beef with bitcoin, the rancher can pay the mechanic in bitcoin, the mechanic can go to the dentist and pay with bitcoin, etc. Sound money empowers that by enriching each participant over time through protection against debasement.
- What makes the region ideal for a bitcoin circular economy?
The Tampa Bay area is unique in that there are 3 major cities (Tampa, St. Pete, Sarasota) with a population of ~4 million all within an easily drivable distance. Other than being a strong tourism draw, the Tampa Bay area is also very young, entrepreneurial, and tech focused, which naturally leads towards an inclination for bitcoin.
- How are you involving Tampa Bay residents who are new to bitcoin? Share a story of a community member’s “aha moment.”
We host weekly meetups across a wide variety of topics, from Beginner to Bitdevs as well as engage with other local nonprofits and schools. It may be simple but most people’s aha moment comes as soon as they download a lightning wallet and watch the sats appear instantly in their hands.
There’s no more powerful tool than getting people to actually hold some bitcoin, even if it is a small amount.
- How does Bitcoin Bay contribute to open-source projects or Bitcoin core development?
We have a strong group of local developers that work on their own open source projects such as DLC-Devkit by our founder https://github.com/bennyhodl
Community Building
- What strategies are most effective for onboarding Tampa Bay businesses to accept bitcoin?
What we’ve found is simply being a patron of the business for long enough that you form a relationship with them. Once they know you are a reliable consumer they are much more willing to accept bitcoin because they know they will actually receive it. It does help if you tell them you’ll bring them 20 new customers a month via social meetups.
- What’s the most memorable event you’ve hosted (e.g., meetups, workshops), and why did it resonate?
Our best event is a tossup between our 1st Bitcoin for Business Workshop, our Grand Opening Gala, and the world’s first Bitcoin Pirate Parade float at Gasparilla. We onboarded 2 dozen businesses in that first workshop 3 years ago, raised over 30k in our first Sound Money Soiree last year, and brought bitcoin to over 400k people in Tampa with our Gasparilla float. So it’s hard to choose!
- How do you address common misconceptions about bitcoin in Tampa Bay?
Patience and education. You would be surprised just how many people think it’s illegal to accept bitcoin as a business or think it’s a scam or that it’s dead. Underneath the typical objections is usually a deeper fear or misunderstanding so we try to address those rather than the stated issue.
- Share a quirky or innovative tactic you’ve used to spread bitcoin adoption e.g., beach cleanups for sats?
We have a new program for college students that we are going to try out soon. It’s emulating the coca-cola method where you get different people to just keep going into the same business and ask “do you take bitcoin yet?” Whoever gets the business to accept it wins 100k sats.
- What’s the most significant challenge in building a circular economy, and how are you tackling it?
People do not want to spend their bitcoin. It’s very difficult to keep a business onboarded if they don’t see new customers. So we are constantly working to break the fiat mindset of never spending your bitcoin. Opportunity cost means those dollars could’ve been bitcoin so you always are spending bitcoin if it is your unit of account.
What’s Next?
- If Satoshi visited, where would you take them first?
I would take him to the 50+ student bitcoin club at the University of Tampa to see the next generation clamouring to understand his invention.
- What does success look like for Bitcoin Bay in 5 years?
Having it be a self sustaining business that can employ people full time as well as having 50 businesses and 10 school clubs.
- How can the global bitcoin community support your mission?
We are always open to donations of time or treasure but we would love people to come visit and see what we’ve built! Especially on June 14th for our next conference and gala. For more information, visit https://www.bitcoinbay.foundation/
