How do you find bitcoiners in your area? For people in Overijssel and the surrounding area, the answer is Zwolle. There’s been an active bitcoin community here for years that meets every two months to share knowledge and welcome new members. No crypto nonsense, no shitcoin talk, no investment advice. Just people who take bitcoin seriously and get together. The bitcoin meetup in Zwolle is exactly that: a regular event on the calendar for anyone who no longer wants to just read about bitcoin, but also wants to talk about it.
What is the bitcoin meetup in Zwolle?
The bitcoin meetup in Zwolle is a recurring gathering for anyone seriously interested in bitcoin, from complete beginners to technically advanced enthusiasts. The meetups take place every two months at various locations around the city, ranging from a local café to a restaurant on the water. The meetups are organized by Mario Zijlstra, owner of BitcoinStuffStore, a Dutch bitcoin-only online store. The goal is clear: to bring bitcoiners together without the noise of crypto and altcoins.
The Zwolle community is connected to a broader national network via meetup.com/bitcoinmeetup/, the Dutch and Belgian bitcoin meetup organization with over 1,200 members. Zwolle is an active hub within that organization. Because the community in Zwolle has been around for several years, it has built a historical and social foundation that you don’t see in isolated, one-off gatherings. That foundation is what gives the community its value.
There is no set agenda or list of speakers for each meeting. Sometimes an evening has a theme that someone suggests; other times, the conversation takes its own course. What always comes back is honesty in the conversation and the quality of the attendees. People who know what bitcoin is, and people who want to understand why it matters. And those are two very different things.
How to Join the bitcoin Community in Zwolle
Joining the bitcoin meetup in Zwolle is easy and free. There are two channels to follow. Sign up at meetup.com/bitcoinmeetup/ to stay informed about upcoming meetings in Zwolle and the surrounding area. Join the Telegram community via t.me/zwollebitcoinstad, where announcements are shared and discussions about bitcoin-related topics take place in between.
The official agenda of the Zwolle community is at zwollebitcoinstad.nl. Here you'll find an overview of planned events, workshops, and activities in 2026. The site is also the central hub for information about the Zwolle Bitcoin City community, including a map of bitcoin-friendly businesses in the city. If you want to know which businesses are part of the network, start here.
There is no registration process or age limit. The meetups are designed to be accessible, and no one is judged based on prior knowledge. If you understand bitcoin as a concept and want to learn more, you’ve come to the right place. If you’re still unsure whether bitcoin is right for you, that’s also a good place to start. The community exists precisely to answer these kinds of questions.
Zwolle Bitcoin City: 14 bitcoin-friendly business owners
Zwolle has something that most cities in the Netherlands don't yet have: an official community label and a growing list of businesses that accept bitcoin as a form of payment. Currently, 14 businesses in Zwolle accept bitcoin, ranging from shops and restaurants to service providers, verified via zwollebitcoinstad.nl. From lunch to a night out: there are plenty of places in Zwolle where you can go with bitcoin.
The Zwolle community is also listed on BTCMap via btcmap.org/community/zwolle-bitcoincity, verified in January 2026. BTCMap is an open-source map of bitcoin-friendly businesses and communities worldwide, maintained by volunteers who keep the data up to date. If you search for Zwolle on BTCMap, you’ll see a list of businesses with their current status. It’s a handy starting point if you want to know where you can go in Zwolle with bitcoin, even outside of meetups.
Zwolle Bitcoin City lists ’t Pannenkoekschip on Pletterstraat in its list of businesses where you can pay with bitcoin. 't Pannenkoekschip has also served as a meetup location. If you’d like to learn more about how bitcoin payments work in Zwolle’s hospitality industry, read the separate article about the bitcoin meetup at the Pannekoekenschip in Zwolle. Other well-known names in the Zwolle Bitcoin city network include Meneer Jan at Nieuwe Markt 4, Hofkamer, and Weeshuys at Assendorperstraat 6.
The community has grown steadily in recent years, and new businesses are joining regularly. This is not a fleeting experiment: entrepreneurs who accept bitcoin do so as a matter of policy and for a reason. The network expands on its own because every participating entrepreneur sends a signal to other entrepreneurs in the city.
What do you guys talk about at a bitcoin meetup in Zwolle?
New visitors always ask this first: What’s on the agenda? The honest answer is that there’s no set agenda. And that’s exactly why the meetups work. There are no presentations on prices, no advice on when to buy or sell, and certainly no token pitches. What we do have are discussions about self-custody, the Lightning Network, firmware updates for miners, the state of the protocol, and practical matters like bitcoin payments in everyday life.
Sometimes an evening is dedicated to a specific topic that someone brings up: multisig setups, cold storage, choosing between hardware wallet, or the question of how to explain bitcoin to your children. Sometimes it’s just a casual conversation with bitcoin as the common thread. The real value lies in the people who attend: people who know the protocol, who have their own practical experience, and who have no reason to sell anything.
That’s what sets it apart from a cryptocurrency conference or an altcoin event. At the bitcoin meetup in Zwolle, you’ll walk away with knowledge you can put to use, and with people you’ll see again next time. That’s no coincidence: it’s the result of a community that’s been built on the same foundations for years.
Bitcoin Meetup Locations in Zwolle
The bitcoin meetups in Zwolle take place at various locations. This is intentional: it shows how widespread the bitcoin network is throughout the city and how commonplace bitcoin payments have become for Zwolle-based business owners. Well-known past and present locations include the Pannekoekenschip at Pletterstraat 6, Meneer Jan at Nieuwe Markt 4, Hofkamer, and Weeshuys at Assendorperstraat 6.
The Pannekoekenschip at Pletterstraat 6 is located on the water in the city center. Meneer Jan is a local restaurant that has long been part of the Zwolle Bitcoinstad network. Hofkamer and Weeshuys round out the list of venues where the community has called home.
The exact location per meeting is always announced in advance via Telegram and Meetup. Follow t.me/zwollebitcoinstad or look at meetup.com/bitcoinmeetup/ To stay up to date. The current schedule is always on zwollebitcoinstad.nl.
Storing Bitcoin Yourself: The Logical Next Step
After your first bitcoin meetup in Zwolle, the same question often comes up: How do I store my bitcoin securely? That’s a good question, and the community in Zwolle is happy to discuss it. Storing Bitcoin on an exchange or in an app is a convenient starting point, but it’s not the right way to do it. Not your keys, not your coins. That’s not just a slogan, it’s simply how it works.
The standard solution for anyone who takes bitcoin seriously is a hardware wallet: an external device that stores your private keys offline, out of reach of the internet and hackers. You can use a hardware wallet for daily payments via the Lightning Network and for storing larger amounts over the long term. On the hardware wallets category page On BitcoinStuffStore, you'll find an overview of wallets that we test and use ourselves. There isn't a single hardware wallet we don't know, no compromises.
Frequently Asked Questions About the bitcoin Meetup in Zwolle
The bitcoin meetup in Zwolle exists because Zwolle has enough bitcoiners who don't want to do it alone. In fact, they know that you understand bitcoin better when you do it together. Check out zwollebitcoinstad.nl for the upcoming meeting and join the Telegram community. The first step is the easiest.
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