F.R.E.E. Madeira

The Netherlands' pioneer bitcoin city project, started in 2014, which at its peak signed over 100 Arnhem merchants including a Burger King. Honest status: its payment processor BitKassa shut down under MiCA regulatory pressure, so live merchant acceptance has thinned considerably, though the community, its merchant map, and regular events continue.

The original bitcoin circular economy, started in El Zonte in 2019 with an anonymous donation and a mandate to build a local Lightning economy. It onboarded shops, fishermen, and families years before El Salvador's legal tender law, which it directly inspired. The project now centers on education and community development; tourism, not necessity, drives much of today's spending.

A circular economy in Berlín, a 20,000-person coffee town in El Salvador's mountains, running since 2023. Around 150 to 164 merchants accept bitcoin — roughly a quarter of local businesses — and unlike El Zonte the users are overwhelmingly Salvadoran locals, not tourists. Built door-to-door by a small team; arguably the strongest evidence yet that everyday bitcoin commerce can work.

A township circular economy in Mossel Bay, South Africa, built since 2021 on top of The Surfer Kids nonprofit. All 21 staff are paid entirely in bitcoin and 32 local shops accept it. The team runs its own Fedimint federation for users who want a custodial option. Small, slow, and real — growth is measured in single shops, not headlines.