PubKey halts Bitcoin payments until further notice

PubKey, the Bitcoin-centric dive bar that has become something of a pilgrimage site for the crypto faithful, announced on August 7 that its Bitcoin payment system is offline until further notice. The bar, which operates locations in New York City and Washington, D.C., didn’t offer a reason for the disruption. What we know about the outage The announcement came via PubKey’s official account on X, where the bar indicated the outage would be temporary. Beyond that reassurance, the post was light on specifics. PubKey relies on Square’s point-of-sale system for processing Bitcoin transactions, a feature Square rolled out in 2025. Whether the issue stems from Square’s infrastructure, PubKey’s own integration, or something else entirely remains unclear. PubKey’s New York location has historically processed about 7% of its transactions in Bitcoin. The bar incentivizes that adoption with a 21% discount for customers who pay in Bitcoin. The number isn’t arbitrary. It’s a nod to Bitcoin’s hard cap of 21 million coins. PubKey’s role in Bitcoin culture The original New York City location opened in late 2022, positioning itself not just as a place to grab a beer but as a community hub for Bitcoi...