PubKey, 410 Seventh St., NW

At first glance, PubKey looks like a typical dive bar, with karaoke and trivia. A steakhouse will open in the basement come spring. But the venue—occupying 12,000 square feet in Hill Country Barbecue’s former Penn Quarter space—is actually something more unusual: a Bitcoiner hub with a podcast studio and event space to promote the cryptocurrency, plus a think tank called the Bitcoin Policy Institute subleasing space in the back. This is PubKey’s second location, following one in New York. It’s set to open Monday, December 15.

Why a Bitcoin bar? “It’s the most approachable way for somebody to say, ‘I’ve been reading about this thing. I don’t get it, but I’m curious,” says co-founder Thomas Pacchia, a former derivatives lawyer. “They can just come in and have a

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