While I was working the booth I was introduced to a method of payment called Shire Silver.  These credit-card sized laminated trading cards contained small strips of silver or gold, providing a simple and practical method for exchange.  In addition to the Shire Silver cards, I conducted some of my first trades for silver rounds or junk silver (pre-1965 dimes and quarters) The concept blew my mind and I returned home feeling incredibly empowered.

 

The following year I was introduced to dime cards, which are similar to the Shire Silver cards in that they are laminated credit card sized trading cards with a silver dime inside.  These were considered more reliable because dimes are harder to "fake" than the strands of silver.  

 

By my forth Porcfest customers began approaching our booth asking to pay in BTC.  This was not something we were prepared to do, but listened with curiosity. My fifth PorcFest was the first time I truly utilized the crypto currency.  Nearly every vendor had been set up to accept BTC, and we came prepared to spend zero FRNs if we could.  We bought food with BTC, apparel, and my favorite knit owl hats for myself and my daughter.  

 

We filmed our no-FRN challenge at PorcFest for our educational docu-reality show called Sovereign Living.  The entire episode is centered around BTC and it's many uses.  This PorcFest was particularly life changing for us with regards to our involvement in the Bitcoin economy.  Not only did we spend and receive the currency in exchange for vendor goods, but we received two large lumps sums of BTC.

 

 

 

First, the nonprofit producing Sovereign Living received a donation of Bitcoin valued $10,000 at the time. This donation was used to fund the next episodes of our show.  Additionally, my husband won Second place in Agorist Pitch, a business start up competition.  The award for taking second place? $1,000 worth of BTC.  That seed money was used to take his news service, The Liberty Beat, to the next level by allowing him to hire both writers and voice talent, who he still pays in Bitcoin! 

 

It wasn't easy for me to set up my first wallet, to be honest.  And it took the help of a friend here in Austin to make it happen.  Now, almost one year has passed since I finally  set up my first wallet and I am passionately advocating the crypto currency.  My particular passion is to make the currency more woman and family friendly. I am doing this by blogging at thebitmom.com, speaking at events, and working with conferences to make their events more conducive to families.

 

I feel strongly that Bitcoin provides an opportunity for anti-state activists to stop funding activities they find immoral, to empower innovation through small business start ups, and reduce the cost of conducting business through peer to peer money transfers. 

 

This is particularly relevant for women who have been culturally and historically disempowered.  Now a woman anywhere In the world with access to the internet can become an international business owner. Sure, it can empower any person to become an international business owner regardless of their gender, but women have been particularly left behind In the entrepreneurial world, and now have the opportunity to catch up. 

 

From the stay at home mom in a Western society to a culturally repressed woman in the developing world, women have opportunity at their fingertips.  Never before have women had a greater chance to overcome the negative economic forces that they face. It is through Bitcoin that women and men alike are freeing themselves from dependency on the status quo.  I am so excited to have been introduced to Bitcoin and look forward to many years of learning more about the crypto currency and growing the Bitcoin ecosystem!

 

Catherine Bleish

Catherine Bleish Co-star/Co-Executive Producer of Sovereign Living

Catherine Bleish of TheBitMom.com is a stay-at-farm mother of two young children and over 100 chickens in Southeast Austin. She is a vocal advocate for agorism, raising sovereign children, and sustainable living.

Catherine obtained her Masters Degree in Public Administration / Nonprofit Management and serves as a consultant to grassroots organizations in the areas of strategic planning, team development and independent research. She is also an experienced event planner and enjoys putting on large conferences.  Catherine accepts Bitcoin, Silver and barter for her services.

Once considered a leading expert on DHS fusion centers and the growing police state, Catherine has redirected her energy toward the creation of competing institutions. She currently writes for the Freedom’s Pheonix E-Zine and blogs on www.sovereignliving.com

Catherine Bleish is the founder and former executive director of the Liberty Restoration Project.



In 2010 Catherine was interviewed by CNN for the Anderson Cooper Show and featured in Jesse Ventura’s TruTV Show Conspiracy Theory.  In 2011 her speech at an anti-TSA rally was covered on Fox News.

Catherine was profiled by the Southern Poverty Law Center as one of the top thirty “Patriot Leaders” in the country.  Ironically, she does not identify with the patriot movement.

Currently you can keep up with Catherine via her photo blog at www.blushfamilyfarm.com, her blog on www.sovereignliving.com, her family’s reality show at www.sovereignliving.tv, or her fan page on facebook.

You can watch a playlist of her speeches here.

You can watch a playlist of her media appearances here.

 

Catherine Bleish