Bitcoin Coffee

Imagine wanting a coffee with only Czech koruna in your wallet. In Bitcoin Coffee’s early days, cash would not have helped at the counter. That small obstacle opened a conversation: what is Bitcoin, and how do I pay with it? The café occupied the ground floor of the black Paralelní Polis building at 43 Dělnická in Prague’s Holešovice district. It was a gateway to a wider project offering talks and shared workspaces. You did not have to become an expert before walking in; asking questions was part of the visit. [1] [3]

When the café opened in October 2014, it accepted Bitcoin alone. For people around the Ztohoven art collective and hacker community, this was a way to try an idea in everyday life. Talking about money outside the banking system was not enough: someone had to use it, and someone had to provide goods in return. A café made that possible through a small purchase. The expression bitcoin-only describes its payment policy at the time, not a type of coffee or a feature of every later operation. [1]

Visitors without Bitcoin could use a bitcoin ATM, a machine for exchanging cash for bitcoin and get help from the staff. A wallet is a tool for receiving and sending payments; buying a whole bitcoin is unnecessary to pay for coffee. The first experience also raised practical questions: does the amount match the order, what do conversion and sending cost, and where am I sending the payment? Wallets and terminals changed over time. A historical demonstration is therefore not a present-day guide to installing a particular app. A small amount is enough to learn with. Before keeping larger savings in a wallet, we need to understand how to secure it and restore it from a backup. [1] [12] [15]

A January 2015 European Coffee Trip report introduced Vojta Pešice and Lucka Furstová, who ran the café. They cared about specialty coffee and conversation around an open worktable. They also held cuppings: shared tastings where people compare coffees. This helps explain why the venue attracted visitors who had not come for a technical lecture. There was someone willing to help behind the counter and a real drink on the table; technology became understandable as an everyday service. [3]

After paying, a customer knew they had transferred value to a merchant. That did not yet tell them how secure their wallet was or who controlled it. The decisive issue is private keys, the data that enables bitcoin to be spent: do we manage them ourselves, or does a service hold them? Privacy is not automatic either. Transactions on Bitcoin’s base network are public, and other information can connect them to a person. Buying one coffee also says nothing about future prices or how many other merchants will accept Bitcoin. [12] [13]

In 2016 the café also made news for payments using an implanted NFC chip. NFC is wireless communication over a very short distance: bringing a chip close to a reader lets the reader obtain its data. In this experiment, a hand replaced part of the usual payment interaction. The chip itself did not create a new Bitcoin network or resolve every security question. A contactless gesture does not reveal who controls the keys or how the rest of the system works. It is an interesting episode in the café’s history, not a requirement for using Bitcoin. [4] [16]

One rule cannot describe the business throughout its history. After its initial Bitcoin-only phase, other cryptocurrencies appeared too; contemporary reports need to be read with their dates in mind. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are not interchangeable payment networks just because the same merchant accepts them. A broader selection does not erase the original experiment, but it changes how accurately bitcoin-only describes the business. For a visit to any venue, its current information is more useful than an enthusiastic old article. [7] [10]

After the October Hackers Congress in 2024, Paralelní Polis ended in its previous form. According to e15’s report at the time, Bitcoin Coffee was to remain as the café within Second Culture, a coworking space where people share facilities for work. Roman Týc and Kateřina Mareková explained the change on the project’s behalf. Cards became an option, while cash remained excluded. The building had not moved, but its daily operation was different. The original café, the Paralelní Polis association and the new operator must therefore be distinguished. [7]

An e15 report dated 25 March 2026 said that Second Culture had ceased operating that month and the building had been cleared. Owner Richard Balous announced plans to use it for a gallery. La Fabrika’s website now lists LAFA Gallery at this address, giving the building a new cultural use. For Bitcoin Coffee’s history, the relevant point is that the original business at 43 Dělnická cannot be presented as a café still in operation. Photos, reviews and social profiles preserve memories of the place; they do not confirm today’s opening hours. [8] [9] [17]

The Paralelná Polis project in Bratislava also used the Bitcoin Coffee name. In Prague’s Vršovice district, ₿ Coffee Pop-Up presents itself at Rostovská 260/2b, with a website listing cash, cards and Lightning Network. Lightning uses payment channels: pairs of participants keep updating how funds secured on the blockchain are divided between them. Each small payment therefore does not need its own record on the base Bitcoin network. This is a different place with a different operator; a similar name does not establish continuity with the Holešovice café. Its broader legacy is a simple idea: a real purchase and a patient explanation can help people understand new money. [10] [11] [14]