A brand new nonprofit group, the Tennessee Bitcoin Alliance (TNBTC), has been shaped to speed up bitcoin adoption throughout Tennessee via coordinated public-education applications and a targeted legislative agenda. Its acknowledged mission is to combine bitcoin with industrial exercise within the state.
The group was based by seasoned technologists, entrepreneurs and political activists and goals to translate Tennessee’s favorable vitality combine and enterprise local weather into long-term management within the adoption of bitcoin. The TNBTC launched final month with an in-person occasion in Franklin, Tennessee, with a number of state lawmakers and coverage specialists attending.
Schooling First: Workshops and Service provider Integration
TNBTC will start rolling out statewide workshops this fall. Classes for households will cowl sensible subjects reminiscent of buying, securing and spending bitcoin, whereas merchant-oriented applications will present hands-on steerage for integrating Lightning-enabled point-of-sale programs. Extra free supplies and bitcoin schooling curricula are deliberate for educators, civic teams and native officers to make sure a typical understanding of Bitcoin’s technical fundamentals and financial implications.
A Legislative Roadmap for 2026
On the coverage entrance, the alliance is circulating draft language for the 2026 Normal Meeting that might affirm each resident’s proper to self-custody, acknowledge bitcoin node operation as constitutionally protected speech, allow contracts to be settled in bitcoin with out opposed tax remedy and distinguish bitcoin from different digital property in state code.
“Tennessee already combines a top-ten freedom rating, considerable low-cost nuclear energy, and a bipartisan urge for food for innovation,” mentioned Dave Birnbaum, TNBTC’s president and co-founder. “Our purpose is to mix these benefits with bitcoin and place our state for fast financial progress.”
Tennessee Bitcoin: Leveraging Vitality and Business Benefits
The Tennessee Valley Authority’s grid, which is almost half nuclear, gives miners and knowledge middle operators a steady, low-carbon energy supply. The state additionally hosts present high-performance computing infrastructure, from Oak Ridge Nationwide Laboratory to the xAI amenities in Memphis. In response to the Coinbits Bitcoin Index, which aggregates tax coverage, vitality pricing, regulatory local weather and adoption metrics, Tennessee at present ranks fifth nationwide for Bitcoin friendliness. TNBTC believes it might construct upon this momentum.
“From Oak Ridge’s Frontier super-computer to FedEx’s world logistics hub, Tennessee has a historical past of changing frontier know-how into actual jobs,” mentioned Steve Giraud, TNBTC vice-president and co-founder. “Bitcoin is the following frontier, and this initiative will be sure that the financial alternative that bitcoin affords can attain each county within the state.”
Funding and Participation
TNBTC is supported completely by particular person and company donations. Membership data, program schedules and volunteer alternatives can be found at tnbitcoinalliance.org. The group’s first county-level meetups are slated for August, with pilot workshops focusing on public-school educators and small-business house owners.
If profitable, the Tennessee Bitcoin Alliance may present a replicable framework for state-level Bitcoin adoption rooted in sensible schooling and clear statutory protections, cementing the Volunteer State’s status as a number one jurisdiction for revolutionary applied sciences that advance private liberty.