After 12 years, the cypherpunk space is ending its activities due to financial difficulties and the property owner’s decision.
According to Kryptomagazin.cz, operations at the crypto hub Paralelní Polis are coming to an irreversible end. The historic building at 43 Dělnická Street will no longer serve as the reference point it has been for over a decade for the Bitcoin and crypto-anarchist community.
Founded in October 2014, the project was born with the ambition of operating entirely outside state structures, without any government support. It was neither a simple café nor an ordinary coworking space, but a concrete social experiment—a place where technology was not only theory but daily practice. Bitcoin Coffee quickly became one of the first commercial establishments in the Czech Republic—and in Europe—where paying with bitcoin was not just possible but preferred.
Paralelní Polis was a crossroads for bitcoiners, ethical hackers, cypherpunks, entrepreneurs, and newcomers. Discussions ranged across technology, politics, and culture, with a focus on freedom.
The 2024 transition
The first sign of change came in the fall of 2024, when it was announced that Paralelní Polis would cease to exist “in its current form.” The decision was not sudden: years of financial pressures and the inevitable exhaustion of the project made a transformation necessary.
The founders opted for what they called a “controlled management of decline.” The non-profit entity Paralelní Polis formally continued to exist, but the operational management of the physical space was handed over to a new entity: Second Culture, conceived as a coworking space that preserved the original spirit.
Second Culture continued to honor the legacy of the space by accepting payments in digital assets (Bitcoin, Litecoin, Monero) and keeping its doors open to the community that, despite the rebranding, still perceived 43 Dělnická Street as “Polis.”
Reasons for the closure
According to sources consulted by Kryptomagazin.cz, keeping Second Culture alive has become financially and operationally unsustainable. In addition, verified information indicates a clear stance from the property owner: the landlord no longer wants Bitcoin- or digital asset-related activities to continue on the premises. This decision removes any possibility of further transformations or attempts at revival.
