From June 14 to July 15, Russia will host the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Eleven cities - Moscow, St. Petersburg, Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Saransk, Sochi, Rostov-on-Don, Kaliningrad, Nizhny Novgorod and Volgograd - will accommodate national teams from 32 countries.
Fans from all over the world will soon arrive to Russia to support their national teams, and hotels, restaurants and other services are already preparing to receive thousands of guests. To improve their services (and increase their appeal in the eyes of tourists), many of them have begun accepting Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
We prepared an interactive map to help you find your way around Moscow and the other host cities.
Moscow
Moscow, which will host the World Cup final and one of the semi-finals, has the widest range of businesses accepting cryptocurrency payments.
- Chain of craft bars "Pivoteca 465". In total, the chain includes 13 bars, but only three of them accepts bitcoin.
- Russian cuisine restaurant Valenok, was the first in Moscow to accept Bitcoins.
- Chain of co-working spaces «Key 10». In addition to the workspace, there is also a cafe which accepts bitcoin..
- Mobile coffee shop Headquarters. Originally based in the main Sberbank office building, the cafe accepts bitcoin you can spend for six types of coffee, masala chai and croissants.
- Sex shop Love&Magic accepts both BTC and ETH (however, to pay for an order in cryptocurrency, you need to send an e-mail in advance).
- Tattoo salon TENb You wouldn’t expect a tattoo studio to be part of this list, but if you want to get inked and pay in BTC, the artist won’t say no.
- LavkaLavka Since summer 2017, all stores and cafes under the LavkaLavka name, as well as the LavkaLavka market, have accepted bitcoin for payment (the company's representatives were even summoned to the prosecutor's office because of this, but no violations were found). LavkaLavka has also launched its own cryptocurrency - BioCoin.
- Bitcoin ATMs. Bitcoin ATMs in Moscow are scattered around the capital. For example, two of them are located in the TsUM) and Metropolis shopping malls. The remaining ATMs can be found using our Interactive Map.
If you are a fan of Subway’s sandwiches, we don't have good news for you. Earlier Subway launched the new payment method in Moscow and was accepting bitcoins for about six months, but later this service had to be abandoned.
St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg, which will host one of the semi-finals, also offers visitors plenty of opportunities to purchase goods and services with cryptocurrencies.
- Fitness-bar 2bigbar. This bar, which specializes in healthy and delicious food, offers a discount of 20% when you pay with cryptocurrencies. The bar accepts bitcoin and ether, as well as Litecoin, Dash, NAE, Waves and six other altcoins. The bar is located in the FitnessOne Putilovsky sports center.
- Strip club chain Zavist.This chain of adult night clubs provides its visitors with the opportunity to pay in bitcoin for a private dance or a drink at the bar. All six clubs are located right in the city center, within walking distance from one another.
- Mini-hotel chain Spbinn Milk accepts BTC, Bitcoin Cash and Ether
- Bitcoin ATMs The city has three bitcoin ATMs, which can be found on our Interactive Map.
Yekaterinburg
- Massage salons “Rasputin”. One year ago one of the city's massage parlors began offering its customers the opportunity to pay bitcoins for massage services. "Even more privacy," - an ad for the service boasted of "even more privacy”.
- Taxi Mikhail, a private taxi driver, is nothing short of a local celebrity - he recently decided to accept cryptocurrency as payment for his services (a QR code announcing the fact hangs on the windshield of his car). As of today, Mikhail is the only taxi driver in the city that accepts crypto.
- Bitcoin ATMs The city has three bitcoin ATMs, which can be found on our Interactive Map.
SOCHI
- Online travel agency TripWeCan TripWeCan’s office is located in Moscow, but since it is an online agency, trips can be booked from one of 16 cities, including Sochi. The company specializes in original tours to places of interest that are not included in the traditional guidebooks.
Rostov-on-Don
- Restaurant & Bar “Rostov Father” This is the first restaurant in the south of Russia, to offer alternative methods of payment. Prices in the menu remained in rubles, and "with the help of a payment gateway, the amount of the check will be automatically recalculated to the rate of bitcoin," said its Director Artur Grigoryan. The restaurant takes care of the commission, with the payment taking no longer than two minutes, he added.
- Taxi Like Yekaterinburg, Rostov-on-Don has its own cryptocurrency-friendly taxi driver. However, he accepts Bitcoin Cash as opposed to bitcoin (according to the announcement on the dashboard of his car).
- Bitcoin ATMs There are five Bitcoin ATMs here. Mostly they are located in self-service stores “ASSORTI”, working 24/7, and taking 6% commission from transactions.
Kaliningrad
- Hotel “Apartments Malina” Thanks to its partnership with the online platform Free-Kass, this hotel accepts Bitcoin, Light Coin and Ether.
Other cities
You can find Bitcoin ATM’s in Kazan, Samara, Nizhny Novgorod and Volgograd - refer to the interactive map for details
While these cities are trying to keep up with global trends and are attempting to develop a crypto industry, those who come here for the 2018 FIFA World Cup are unlikely to be interested in the services provided for BTC.
In Kazan, for instance, bitcoin can be used to pay at a car wash and in a driving school. A car parts supplier in Saransk and a repair shop in Nizhny Novgorod are two other examples of crypto-friendly businesses in the remaining host cities.
By Nadya Astam