A contributing factor to this was their response to COVID. Basically, about half of the organization freaked out and started requiring masks and testing. I personally was supposed to speak at the HCPP conference in 2021. Even though the government did not require testing for events at that time, they had mandatory COVID swab testing at the door. Absolutely insane for a privacy focused event.
I quite publicly refused and was booted from the conference. From what I've heard it split the organization in two with many people quitting; I actually ended up speaking at a later crypto event run by many former Paralelni Polis members.
Was there. At least it was kinda anonymous C19 test, and with saliva, not the one you put in your nose. Didn't ask for id, and I could have faked if totally. You took the test and then go around for few minutes and then give it back to them with result.
But, yeah, it was bullshit!
Heard that they had some splits also regarding Ukraine War.
IIRC story was that some one guy went on a stage with some "Russia fuck off" shirt and some other guy didn't like it (I did that at one Baltic Hondeybadger too).
Covid was largest mass hysteria I ever witnessed. So many otherwise seemingly smart people bought the narrative uncritically. Jay Batacharaya was one of the few who early on questioned how deadly the virus really was, but few listened to him
What was interesting about this, that I have witnessed older relatives who was alive during Spanish Flu pandemic after the Great War, but for some reason there were no stories about that, never. Probably was the same mass hysteria back then? Asked even my mother about that, even she have no idea.
That’s honestly sad to see. Paralelní Polis felt like one of those real-world spaces where crypto culture actually lived, not just online talk. Curious what replaces that kind of community going forward.
Sad to see this go. Paraleln Polis was a symbol of what Bitcoin communities could build - a physical space that lived by its principles (BTC-only since 2014). The fact that they made it 12 years is remarkable.
Curious what led to the closure - rent pressures, changing demographics, or natural lifecycle? Either way, the model they pioneered influenced countless other spaces worldwide. That legacy lives on.
A contributing factor to this was their response to COVID. Basically, about half of the organization freaked out and started requiring masks and testing. I personally was supposed to speak at the HCPP conference in 2021. Even though the government did not require testing for events at that time, they had mandatory COVID swab testing at the door. Absolutely insane for a privacy focused event.
I quite publicly refused and was booted from the conference. From what I've heard it split the organization in two with many people quitting; I actually ended up speaking at a later crypto event run by many former Paralelni Polis members.
Was there. At least it was kinda anonymous C19 test, and with saliva, not the one you put in your nose. Didn't ask for id, and I could have faked if totally. You took the test and then go around for few minutes and then give it back to them with result.
But, yeah, it was bullshit!
Heard that they had some splits also regarding Ukraine War.
Kinda anonymous is nowhere near good enough... Especially when there is no requirement for a test at all.
Interesting to hear that re: Ukraine. Doesn't surprise me though. War really seems to fry the brains of left wing pacifists...
IIRC story was that some one guy went on a stage with some "Russia fuck off" shirt and some other guy didn't like it (I did that at one Baltic Hondeybadger too).
Covid was largest mass hysteria I ever witnessed. So many otherwise seemingly smart people bought the narrative uncritically. Jay Batacharaya was one of the few who early on questioned how deadly the virus really was, but few listened to him
What was interesting about this, that I have witnessed older relatives who was alive during Spanish Flu pandemic after the Great War, but for some reason there were no stories about that, never. Probably was the same mass hysteria back then? Asked even my mother about that, even she have no idea.
When one door closes, another opens…
That’s honestly sad to see. Paralelní Polis felt like one of those real-world spaces where crypto culture actually lived, not just online talk. Curious what replaces that kind of community going forward.
Sad to see this go. Paraleln Polis was a symbol of what Bitcoin communities could build - a physical space that lived by its principles (BTC-only since 2014). The fact that they made it 12 years is remarkable.
Curious what led to the closure - rent pressures, changing demographics, or natural lifecycle? Either way, the model they pioneered influenced countless other spaces worldwide. That legacy lives on.