While Prague might be perceived as a city full of history, beneath that lays a progressive attitude. Over the last half a century, the capital has become nothing but a hub for cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and the increasingly popular Ethereum (ETH). Here, we’re taking a closer look at the influence of cryptocurrencies on Prague’s culture and how it has and will continue to, benefit the capital city.
Making Bitcoin Useful
While the world was going crazy over Bitcoin in 2017, a small café situated in Holesovice was busy going about its business. Due to the rise in the cryptocurrencies popularity, a group known as ‘Ztohoven’ started the Paralelni Polis ‘s Bitcoin Coffee through the hype. While the café looks like yet another hipster-style hangout, it’s not. Paralelni Polis ‘s Bitcoin Coffee was created in a bid to bring Bitcoin further into the spotlight. If you haven’t already guessed, this café only accepts BTC payments, and those who aren’t equipped with the cryptocurrency can exchange their fiat currency at the door in a matter of seconds. Result!
Crypto Compatible Gaming
Moving away from hipster-style hangouts and looking towards the internet, businesses in the gaming space are also providing a level of utility to various cryptocurrencies. While the likes of Microsoft have allowed gamers to pay for content using Bitcoin, a new style of online casinos are now allowing members to deposit and wager using cryptocurrencies. But, what makes this different is that instead of reinventing the games, developers have taken what’s already available and have adapted it to function with Bitcoin.
Blockchain & Bitcoin Conference
As one of the most important Bitcoin centers in Europe, Prague hosted the largest conference devoted to cryptocurrencies and blockchain. While some shops already accepted a Bitcoin card alongside traditional currency, this conference heavily focused on the implementation of contactless chips that can also be used for – you guessed it – Bitcoin transactions. Other topics were discussed throughout the conference too such as blockchain in Govtech and blockchain services in Fintech.
Home To The Second Property Paid In Crypto-Currency
According to The Daily, Prague is home to the second property paid in cryptocurrency across the globe, the first was sold in the US. The apartment in Prague’s Strasnice district was bought by a Russian citizen in November 2017 for 35 Bitcoins. At the time, this was equivalent to not one or two, but five million crowns. Today, however, the value of the cryptocurrency has grown more than twenty times over and is now valued at more than 400,000 crowns per Bitcoin. The proud Russian buyer stated that “Bitcoin is the future of the money sector, the advantage is easy to transfer compared to regular currencies, which was one of the reasons I decided to buy an apartment using bitcoin,” and quite frankly, we don’t blame him for doing so!
