Paralelni Polis is dead
horrible news for bitcoin adoption in Europe
This was the first cafe to accept bitcoin payments in 2014
Had a coworking space where you could meet hackers & anarchists
Hosted hundreds of conferences & community meetups
Nurtured open source startups
Displayed the works of underground artists
Sold overpriced drinks and food that everyone gladly bought to support the movement
Even mobilized the community during the pandemic to have a huge remote conference with dozens of volunteering hosts and guests
If you were a bitcoiner who came to visit Prague, Paralelni Polis would let you sleep in their dorm for free. If no dorm was available, they had couches too
Now it’s dead.
Much like bitcoin adoption in Europe.
In the beginning, they would force all cafe customers to buy bitcoin to pay for the drinks.
There was a Bitcoin ATM at the entrance, but the employees would usually offer to trade bitcoin for cash in person to avoid the 10% fee.
In recent years, Paralelni Polis rebranded as Second Culture. Started accepting credit cards for payment, cut down on the number of events, faced an identity crisis that ultimately led to its demise.
Even some OGs who basically built the place didn’t want to visit anymore. Call it local drama and politics, but it was bad for everybody involved.
The worst of outcomes happened and bitcoin culture is now crippled.
I feel sorry for the newcomers who will never experience the joy of walking into this place to experience a true bitcoin economy. Heavily ideological, but somehow functional.
Now Paralelni Polis and its incumbent Institute of Cryptoanarchy are dead. What remains inside is an unplugged ATM and the Monero logo on the door – a hint that the dream of peer to peer electronic cash has moved elsewhere.
Now we never spend, shake hands with bankers and deny the existence of a second best while technically losing by every significant metric.
Good night, sweet prince!
