Bitcoin activists staged a light show on the building of the Central Bank of Slovakia

This week in the evening, a huge illuminated Bitcoin sign appeared on some banks hostile to cryptocurrency companies and traders, and then on the Central Bank itself. The bank was trolled by local activist group Paralelná Polis from the Cryptoanarchy Institute, a hacker research and development community.

Activists parodied the actions of the National Bank of Slovakia, which in 2008 placed a poster with the euro on its facade in anticipation of the country's adoption of the trans-European currency.

Hackers published a video of their show in protest against the country's cryptocurrency policy. In addition to the Bitcoin sign, a sign of the anonymous cryptocurrency Monero also appeared on the building of the central bank.

According to the protesters, the Central Bank is not engaged in regulation, but in opposing progress. The statement accompanying the video compared the cryptocurrency to Gutenberg's printing press and the regulator to a church that had lost control of the manual copying of books. 

Slovak commercial banks, instead of developing the unlimited possibilities of cryptocurrencies and supporting emerging cryptocurrency companies, remain on the sidelines due to government regulators or unclear legislation. Regulatory opposition is preventing the emergence of a new decentralized era of blockchain, digital currency advocates say.

As activists use the Bitcoin logo in Slovakia to protest, the government of a neighboring country is using the same logo to demonstrate its desire to become a regional hub for a thriving blockchain industry.

As reported by CCN, a group of fintech startups, including cryptocurrency exchange Bitstamp - in partnership with the local government - financed the construction of the monument bitcoin at a busy roundabout in Kranj, Slovenia's fourth largest city.

“Slovenia is open to the use of new technologies and encourages progressive thinking that is aimed not only at optimizing everyday life, but also at interpersonal trust, transparency and cooperation,” the project’s supporters said in a statement.

Meanwhile, cryptocurrency enthusiasts in Ukraine have launched a campaign to build statues of bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto in Kyiv on the site where the monument to Vladimir Lenin stood before his overthrow during the Ukrainian revolution of 2014.