Metaverse events at ancient and historical sites could soon shape up to be an alternate future for tourism. Owners of physical castles and villas who have drafted up augmented reality blueprints of their properties think their ambitious plans to attract visitors in the metaverse will work, as virtual events can help them pay the hefty maintenance bills for their aging properties and also offer a chance to change historical narratives. The metaverse tourism model was expedited by downturns in tourism brought about by COVID-19, but the industry may have already been heading that way. Currently, major metaverse platforms are clunky, …

All things have their humble beginnings; in 2010, the first Bitcoin (BTC) mining project was created in Prague, Czechia, and was simply called Bitcoin.cz. Soon afterward, founder Mark "Slush" Palatinus decided to move on to other ventures, such as creating the world's first cryptocurrency hard wallet, Trezor. As a result, Braiins, a company doing embedded Linux development and research, took over the mining pool and renamed it accordingly. Fast forward to today, Braiins (Slush Pool) has grown to become one of the biggest Bitcoin mining pools. There are now over 15,000 users in the space, with its total hash rate …

Czechia, a country of 10.7 million people in Central Europe, is known for its beautiful capital (Prague), rich history, and good beer. Within the last decade, however, one can now add cryptocurrency adoption to that list. In fact, the Trezor wallet, the first cryptocurrency hardware wallet in the world, was invented here in 2014, and is still going strong. Its parent company, SatoshiLabs, has expanded into creating secure chips for electronic hardware via Tropic Square and advancing cryptocurrency education via Invity. What's more, the country also gave birth to the world's first Bitcoin (BTC) mining pool — Braiins (Slush Pool), …

Like all things, Trezor, a household name in the crypto community with over 1 million units sold, came from humble beginnings. The idea all started out in 2011 after a Bitcoin (BTC) conference in Prague, Czechia — which, by the way, was just voted the most beautiful city in the world in a Time Out magazine survey. Two crypto enthusiasts, Pavol "Stick" Rusnák and Marek "Slush" Palatinus, envisioned a small, single-purpose computer that would securely store users' Bitcoin private keys. In 2013, the two founded SatoshiLabs. The following year, the first-ever Trezor wallet — Trezor One — launched. Then came …

Bitcoin (BTC) friendly Czech crypto-anarchist movement Paralelní Polis has received a warning from the country’s central bank for issuing its own coins. Central bank fine “completely nonsensical” As representatives reported on Twitter on Nov. 3, the Czech National Bank (CNB) has objected to Paralelní Polis using the term “coin” to describe commemorative silver tokens it is currently minting. In 2018, a new law appeared giving sole rights to the word “coin” to the CNB. “Czech National Bank sent us an official threat that if we continue to use the word ‘Mince’ (‘Coin’) on our site, we will be fined. The …

The Czech Republic is expected to enforce stricter oversight of cryptocurrencies than that required by the European Union’s bloc-wide Anti-Money-Laundering (AML) regulatory regime. According to a report from local newspaper Hospodářské Noviny on Aug. 8, the Czech Republic’s transposition of the European Union (EU)’s Fifth AML Directive (AMLD5) looks set to impose yet stricter requirements on cryptocurrency firms than those established by Brussels. Above and beyond EU regulations As an indication of the stringent measures ahead, Hospodářské Noviny reveals that Czech regulators plan to impose a hefty fine — up to half a million koruna or roughly $20,000 — on …

Investment banking firm Benson Oak revealed it would pump “around $100 mln” into Israel-based startups with an “emphasis” on blockchain, local Israeli news outlet the Jerusalem Post reported today, July 9. The Czech-headquartered giant’s subsidiary Benson Oak Ventures will focus specifically on the Israeli market. Having already raised $25 mln, a further $75 mln is expected, with the company expressing its belief in the potential of both Israel as a jurisdiction and local business projects. “I believe that there are great entrepreneurs in Israel who are leading the platforms of the future, with creating [sic] and disruptive use of blockchain …

A Czech gas and energy company Pražská plynárenská is planning to crowdfund energy projects in and around Prague with cryptocurrency, local news outlet Hospodářské noviny reported May 25. The gas company is looking to establish a new investment platform in the field of green and gas projects in the country, allowing interested parties to contribute both in Czech koruna and digital currency. In addition to making crowdfunding in crypto available, the company will also accept digital currencies as a form of payment for their services. Pavel Janeček, chairman of the board at Pražská plynárenská, said the company’s initiative is a …