They have only been open since January, but now, the crypto-friendly pizza place Ariana is in danger of going bankrupt – because of the corona crisis.

Because of the novel coronavirus, large parts of Swedish society have been shut down. The authorities have urged people to work from home if possible and people generally seem to be more cautious, staying at home to a greater extent.

One industry that has been hit extra hard by the fact that more people stay at home is the hotel and restaurant industry.

One who has noticed a large loss of guests is Sekander Islamzai who runs the pizza place Ariana at Kungsholmen in Stockholm.

“At lunchtime, we usually have between 40 and 70 guests, but now we are down to 10 to a maximum of 15 guests”, Sekander Islamzai tells Trijo News.

Has lost almost 90 percent of their revenue

Since January, when the pizza place opened its doors for the first time, guests have been able to pay for their food with cryptocurrencies.

“We wanted to try it”, says Sekander Islamzai and adds that in January, there were actually some guests who chose to pay with bitcoin.

However, the situation for the pizza place right now is tough. According to Sekander Islamzai, almost 90 percent of the revenue has been lost since the corona crisis started.

“It feels really bad. You do not know what will happen. We have lost control altogether. We do not know where to get help or how to survive. There is a huge risk that we will go bankrupt”, Sekander Islamzai says.

Not sure the government’s crisis package is enough

In order to save many Swedish small businesses, the Swedish government has presented a number of crisis packages, including a temporary reduction in payroll tax and a temporary discount for rental costs for smaller companies.

Sekander Islamzai thinks that the measures now being implemented are good, but at the same time, he’s not sure that they will be enough.

“We were able to run the business on the money we used to bring in, but since our revenue is down 90 percent, it is no longer sustainable. The measures that have come from the government help, but if it does not bring money into the cash register it will not work”.

Wants to celebrate Bitcoin pizza day

On May 22, it is Bitcoin pizza day, a day celebrated annually in the crypto world to commemorate the world’s first purchase of a commodity with bitcoin as the means of payment.

For that crypto holiday, the restaurant now plans to create a special menu for the crypto community.

“We want to try a bitcoin pizza, and are looking at several options. We just hope that we are still around by then”, Sekander Islamzai says.

What could people do if they want to help?

“You can support the restaurant by ordering through Foodora, Wolt or Uber Eats. You can also send bitcoin to us”.

Ariana’s bitcoin address: 1ANgwzDs1Wth3mRaUSFLZaHkhAtopfSS8R

Ariana’s bitcoin cash address: qz4n0e7wjf7zegz4xa5jy30uyragg35l3gje34nxhl



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