The cryptocurrency enthusiasts who hope to crowdsource a new nation
Do you believe that democracy may be in jeopardy in light of the potential for political unrest ahead of November’s US presidential election? A group of tech entrepreneurs with significant funding from Silicon Valley also do so. They adore it, too.
What if you could select your citizenship in the same manner as you select a fitness center membership? That is Balaji Srinivasan’s picture of the not too distant future. In the cryptocurrency realm, Balaji—who, like Madonna, is primarily recognized by his first name—is a rock star. a venture capitalist and serial tech entrepreneur who thinks that technology can improve on almost everything that governments do now.
It was in a large conference hall outside of Amsterdam last autumn when I saw Balaji present his concept. As he walked onto the podium wearing a loose-fitting grey suit and slightly baggy tie, he said, “We build new corporations like Google; we start new communities like Facebook; we make new currencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum; can we start new countries?” He had more of the appearance of a middle manager in a corporate accounts department than a rock star. But do not fall for it. Former partner at Andreessen Horowitz, a big venture capital firm in Silicon Valley, is Balaji. His supporters are well-off.
“Disruption” is adored in Silicon Valley. After years of upending traditional media, tech entrepreneurs are now also penetrating other industries, such as finance, education, and space exploration. Balaji asked the audience to “imagine a thousand distinct startups, each of them replacing a different legacy institution.” “They coexist in tandem with the establishment, luring users away as they get stronger and eventually taking center stage.”
The cryptocurrency enthusiasts who hope to crowdsource a new nation
Balaji reasoned that startups may replace nations as well if they could take the place of all these other institutions. He refers to startup nations as the “network state” in his concept. This is how it would operate: groups based on common ideals or interests would first emerge online. They then start to acquire land and turn into actual “countries” with independent laws. These would coexist with current nation states before finally taking their place.
Just like you choose your broadband provider, you would also choose your nationality. Citizenship in the franchised cyber statelet of your choosing would be granted to you.
The idea of companies exerting disproportionate influence over national issues is not new. The fact that United Fruit, a US corporation, essentially governed Guatemala for decades starting in the 1930s is where the name “banana republic” originated. In addition to controlling much of the land, they also controlled the telegraph, postal service, and railroads. United Fruit was assisted by the CIA in a coup that was instigated in response to a pushback by the Guatemalan government.
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However, it seems that the network state movement has much higher goals in mind. It wants more than simply the current governments to be submissive so business may operate independently. It seeks to install corporations in place of governments.
promoting a cryptocity with a free market
Sometime during the eight-hour pitching session in Amsterdam, a young man slumped on stage wearing a grey sweatshirt. We called him Dryden Brown. Somewhere along the Mediterranean coast, he added, was where he wanted to establish a new city-state. It would be run on the blockchain, the technology that powers cryptocurrencies, rather than by a massive state bureaucracy. “Vitality” and “heroic virtue” would be considered its guiding concepts. The Ancient Greek term for “activity,” Praxis, is what he named it. He stated that the first residents of this new country would be allowed to settle in 2026.
He was a little unclear about the specifics. Where exactly should you move in? Who would construct the infrastructure? Who would be in charge of it? Fumbling with a remote, Dryden Brown brought up a slide that implied Praxis was supported by investors with hundreds of billions of dollars at their disposal.
However, as of right now, the “Praxis community” is primarily online. You can submit an application for citizenship via a website. It is unclear exactly who these citizens are. Dryden swiped his remote to bring up another slide. It was a Pepe meme, the depressing cartoon frog that was adopted as the “alt-right” emblem for the 2016 Trump campaign.
