QUEENSTOWN - A Bitcoin-only summit is coming to Coronet Peak in April 2027, as Queenstown's homegrown Bitcoin circular economy makes its pitch as the Asia-Pacific region's flagship gathering for the sound money movement.
The Sovereignty Summit, organized by local group Bitcoin Basin and backed by Stacked - New Zealand's only Bitcoin-only exchange - will be held April 2 and 3 at Coronet Peak.
Key speaker Jeff Booth, author of The Price of Tomorrow and general partner at Ego Death Capital, is confirmed.
Efrat Fenigson, a former Israeli tech executive turned independent journalist who covers Bitcoin, CBDCs and censorship, has also been confirmed as a speaker.
Further announcements are expected in coming weeks.
The Queenstown Bitcoin Meetup in April, taken by Francisco Colombo
The local foundation
Bitcoin Basin founder Nell Hunter said the decision to hold the summit in Queenstown was driven by the local economy the group has spent the past year building.
"We're nearing 50 local businesses accepting Bitcoin as currency, and that's before the summit has even happened," Hunter said.
Hunter said the event was designed to move the conversation beyond Bitcoin's price and into what the technology could actually do for people's lives.
"It's different from other conferences because our focus is on how to help people build a sovereign life, not on price and comparisons to other currencies," she said.
The summit is structured around seven pillars - technology, privacy, health, food, family, education and philosophy - with Bitcoin as the foundation connecting each.
"We want people to experience how good it feels to transact using Bitcoin. We want attendees spending it in real businesses while they're here, seeing a growing circular economy in action."
Hunter said the summit was aimed beyond the Bitcoin community.
"What we're hoping to do is firmly plant the orange flag here. Not only drive Queenstown as a Bitcoin destination, but also encourage New Zealanders to reach out and learn about sound money and how it can help them."
NZ Crypto Con, New Zealand's first large scale digital assets event earlier in June
A scene divided
The Sovereignty Summit arrives weeks after NZ Crypto Con drew around 1800 attendees to Auckland across a broad programme covering everything from Litecoin to artificial intelligence - New Zealand's first large-scale crypto convention and a milestone for the industry.
The Queenstown event takes a different approach.
Bitcoin only, held at Coronet Peak, targeting an audience that has moved past the question of which asset to hold and onto what to do with it.
That distinction was visible at NZ Crypto Con itself.
Stacked - now the Sovereignty Summit's principal sponsor - declined to attend in any professional capacity, with chief revenue officer Simon Collins citing the event's broad crypto format as incompatible with the company's Bitcoin-only focus.
"Attending an event that treats Bitcoin as one asset among many wouldn't be consistent with that focus," Collins said.
"We would love if there were a Bitcoin-focused event in New Zealand - we'd be the first ones in the door."
The Sovereignty Summit is that event.
All vendors at Coronet Peak will accept Bitcoin via Stacked's Lightning Pay point-of-sale technology.
Tickets will be available in satoshis.
The 16th edition of Bitkiwi will be held in Auckland on July 25, 2026
From Bitcoin South to Sovereignty Summit
BitKiwi co-founder Paul McArthur, whose organization has run grassroots Bitcoin events across New Zealand for years, said the summit was complementary to existing efforts rather than competitive.
"Bitkiwi welcomes any and all efforts to grow Bitcoin awareness and adoption in New Zealand and beyond," he said.
"The Sovereignty Summit is exactly the kind of initiative we're excited to see emerge here."
McArthur noted New Zealand had history in this space.
"New Zealand has a history of hosting world-class Bitcoin events, Bitcoin South in Queenstown back in 2014 being a standout example, and it's great to see international conferences return to our shores," he said.
The country's first - Bitcoin South - was held at Queenstown's Millennium Hotel in November 2014, drawing up to 500 attendees and featuring keynote speaker Andreas Antonopoulos alongside Arthur Hayes, Jeffrey Tucker and Tatiana Moroz.
Organised by Brave New Coin founders Fran Strajnar and Chris Raos, the event was described by attendees as a landmark moment for NZ's Bitcoin community - one recap noted 100 per cent of attendees were still present for the morning session on day two.
The Sovereignty Summit will be held at Coronet Peak - kilometres from where Antonopoulos delivered his keynote on Bitcoin and the future of money more than a decade earlier.
Devdass Krishnan, a New Zealand Bitcoin hardware and mining supplier, said the country did not need to compete with the world's largest Bitcoin conferences to make the summit worthwhile.
"I do not think New Zealand is going to compete with the biggest global Bitcoin conferences, and I do not think we need to," he said.
"The opportunity is more about hosting events that are useful for New Zealand and the region - events that bring together the right people around sovereignty, mining, energy, software, self-custody, and long-term infrastructure."
Active Bitcoin Lightning Network nodes in New Zealand, via mempool.space
Putting New Zealand on the Bitcoin map
Bitcoin Journey founder Francisco Colombo said the summit would make Bitcoin tangible for attendees in a way most conferences could not.
"Visitors will not just learn about Bitcoin from speakers on stage, they will be able to buy coffee, meals, accommodation, activities, and much more using Bitcoin," he said.
"I believe this event will be the beginning of something big. It will put New Zealand on the Bitcoin map and serve as the spark that ignites many more international Bitcoin events in the years ahead."
New Zealand and the broader Asia-Pacific have lacked a flagship Bitcoin gathering. Europe has its major conferences. The US has Bitcoin Conference in Nashville. The region has had nothing comparable.
Hunter said the region was ready for an anchor event.
"New Zealand and the wider Asia-Pacific region don't have a flagship gathering like this yet and we want to be that anchor point," she said.
Sovereignty Summit 2027 tickets open in June. The mountain is booked.