Bitcoin Forum

...to improve legal status world wide.

http://geography.about.com/cs/countries/a/smallcountries.htm

There are recognized countries that have only 13,000 - 50,000 citizens. Imagine we can gather 1BTC from each of 100,000 Bitcoin believers. That would be quite some money for a small country that does not happen to be tax haven.

In Germany Bitcoin is already treated like a foreign currency but it might still make things more certain. Also there might be benefits from such an action for the status of Bitcoin in other countries. It would sure make it more difficult to ban.

What do you say?


edited for brevity/clarity

edit: The main purpose of this project would be to make Bitcoin an official currency so that there is a higher legal certainty in OTHER countries. Also it might be more difficult to prohibit a foreign currency.
It is not necessary that anybody in the small country actually uses Bitcoin.

edit2: This has nothing to do with anybody inside or outside the country actually using Bitcoin for anything. Of course the country would simply use their legacy money for everything just like before. But they could announce for example they would accept Bitcoin for paying taxes but it costs an extremely high fee.

To begin with I think we should aim to get some very small nations on board, such as Sealand. This could actually be a perfect fit because it saves these nations the expense of creating their own micro currency.

Not a bad idea.  If you truly believe then you should do some more research to get the plan going.

What about creating our own country?

That's going to be a lot harder than getting a small country to switch to bitcoin.

We could try - http://www.wikihow.com/Start-Your-Own-Country

Would the process of creating a country that uses bitcoin not create partial centralisation?

Would it not perhaps be better to simply have bitcoin recognised as a currency in its own right by institution like the EU and the US?

This could also help set a president for other emerging distributed economies and societies.

The first should help the second.

It's quite difficult to get your own country recognized by other countries - just look at Sealand. IMHO it would be easier to convince an existing country.

Scotland?

for after their (possible 2014) divorce? Lots of chatter in the UK as to whether or not they could keep sterling, adopt the euro or start their own.

Wouldn't that make regulation automatically much stricter in many countries?

I wouldn't be surprised if in many places the law concerning foreign currencies happens to be more draconian than the laws concerning virtual goods.
Take Argentina, for example. Wouldn't that automatically push Bitcoin into its capital control, making it impossible for TradeHill to even start its venture (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-04-16/bitcoin-dreams-endure-to-savers-crushed-by-cpi-argentina-credit.html)?

And despite that, I don't think we should be seeking "state recognition".

The true government of the political entity formerly known as the United States of America already accepts Bitcoin for tax payments:

http://norton13.us/decree-on-currency-and-taxation/

Hmmm you have an argument there. Then let's keep it as an ace in our sleeves.  ;D

What the hell are you talking about and what absurd place in Germany is this?

I bet it's Berlin, what with all their crazyness and being totally broke and all that.

If bitcoin becomes an official currency, the decentralized idea will disappear as with any country and currency there is a controlling institution over it.

Great idea.

I'll drink to that!

Did you just put your post in to my quotes or am I so drunk that I do not remeber what I have posted? :D

Drunken quoting fail on my part.  :D

I'll drink to that!

Basically, you are talking about bribing some politicians... In my mind this would be a sinkhole investment...

So I have shopped for islands before.
There are some big ones available.
If we get one (an island) next to a fairly underdeveloped nation, and arm ourselves to the teeth, and offer some type of positive outcome for them like production of some kind or we could even beef up there technology sector and offer serious upgrades and expetise. Then they probably would rather allow us to operate then invade us.
But we have to make ourselves beneficial or we are going to war (or just failing all together).

It's a good idea and you would have to be pretty convicing and show them it's not a 'bubble'. Most countries are wary of  Bitcoin because of the DDOS lately, However Bitcoin is rising once again and pretty much shows the strength of it. I would suggest contacting the guys who created the documentary and see if they can go out and find a country who would be willing to accept, If I had the money I would buy my own island and set this kind of system up, sadly I don't have that kind of money.

The German federal financial supervisory agency wrote Bitcoin is a "unit of account" and these are treated like foreign currencies. If you wait for a year before selling you do not even have to pay any tax on profits. True story.

Yeah, like all the small countries using the dollar more than their own currencies totally control it.

It would be a one time investment. Once they would announce it the cat would be out of the bag.

What makes you think they would not pocket the money? UN laws?

I would move there.

It's an interesting idea from a publicity standpoint.  I think, it would have to be a fairly unique situation, like a small European principality or something, to turn into much more than that.  But I'm not sure that lack of publicity is what's holding back Bitcoin at the moment.

So, what will happen with Satoshi Dice then?

?

Iceland is to me the obvious candidate. At 350000 it's a bit bigger than what the OP had in mind but it really ticks all the boxes:

Fiercely independent and isolated geographically. Forward thinking technological people. Energy independent (geothermal) so not having to constantly beg others. Seriously burned by the financial crisis and notably, the only country that reacted honorably to the disaster - they actually prosecuted financiers. And currently they have a currency which has crashed - they even considered converting to the euro but then regained their sanity.

As for people worrying about centralisation, just think about it for a minute - this is not a "sovereign" currency, there is no seignorage.

The blockchain shat itself trying to process 40k transactions recently. Not withstanding the rest of the traffic, how do you think you'll be able to cover even the smallest country's transaction volume with SD sucking down the available place?

Very good point.

escrow

Would be nice but probably too expensive.

There is no need for the country or the citizens of the country to do even a single Bitcoin tx.

So you want to sell the gold bitcoin standard to a country?

giving away coin  :)

Sure, sorry for a moment I forgot you were proposing to pay a country to change their national currency :)

Honestly, though, it might happen without any payoffs.

Not "their" national currency but an additional national currency. Can a country have more than one currency?  :D

It might offer some protection against getting prohibited. Should that ever happen in several large countries the price would probably drop so we could not it any more.

*cough*

Still waiting...

i think it sound a really long procedure but not impossible at all, i can see where you are comming from

 ???



Nahh it would be completely independent from the normal currency.

So, bitcoin would be the official currency of the country, but not used by the people, because they keep using whatever they're using?

It would be fun idea, but.. how they would use those bitcoins ?
Everybody would have debit cards or stuff like that?

We can make a new one and call it Bitcoinia or Bitcoinistan.
 ;D ;D ;D

I actually think that making bitcoin an "official currency" would be a bad idea.

It's what a lot of people want to move away from, the general idea of an official currency.

Exactly. They would do it on paper so that Bitcoin gets potential benefits but they don't have any trouble.


I actually think that making bitcoin an "official currency" would be a bad idea.

It's what a lot of people want to move away from, the general idea of an official currency.
[/quote]
There might be some advantages from gaming the system.

So... what's the exact proposition, bribe a country into saying that bitcoin is now it's official currency, but then let them totally ignore it?

You know the right target for this right?  The Government of Tuvalu.   Nearly all it's income is derived from .tv domain name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Tuvalu

and for general history of the country.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuvalu

The Prime Minster posts on Reddit all the time,  his username is " PMofTuvalu "

http://www.reddit.com/r/Foodforthought/comments/1b6lep/the_25_least_visited_countries_in_the_world/c94gcp5?context=3

I'm just stating that if you wanted to ask a country to adopt bitcoin,  that would be the country...  they would most likely need at least 200,000 bitcoins to start...  



The exact proposition is to say each Tuvaluan dollar equals .003 BTC.  Similar to this image,  how the United States used to view currency.

"This certifies that there is .003 bitcoin on deposit in exchange for this note on demand"

http://www.adaptiveglass.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/photo.jpg

for the first year or two it most likely would be our responsibility to keep there treasury funded...     honestly I doubt the bitcoin community would be up to it...  literally you're most likely talking about 200,000 bitcoins or more.

It's a valuation of about $30,000,000  .. not much money for what you are buying... but i would be shocked to see if the community actually funded it.

GDP: purchasing power parity $36 million (2010 est.)[4]

GDP: official exchange rate $32 million (2010 est.)[4]

GDP - real growth rate: -1.7% (2009); 0.2% (2010 est.) 0% (2011 proj.)[13]

GDP - per capita: $2,447 (2009)[13]

GDP – composition by sector: (2002)[4]

[17]GNI - GNI per capita: $4,760 (current US$ 2010)

Agriculture: 16.6%

Industry: 27.2%

Services: 56.2%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): -1¾% (November 2010)[13]

Total population: 10,544 (July 2011 est.)[4]

Labor force - by occupation: people make a living mainly through exploitation of the sea, reefs, and atolls and from wages sent home by those working abroad in Australia and New Zealand and sailors working of merchant ships.

Labour force: 3,615 (2004 est.)[4]

Unemployment rate: 16.3% (2004)[13]

I remember reading somewhere that there is a South American country who's official currancy is the US Dollar. you might want to talk to them.

I think that to be viable the entire country would have to have free wifi.

Here's my analysis from March when the whole Cyprus debacle broke. The Cypriot government could have actually done this without our help by selling a couple of their gold bars!

This makes a good point!

I think it's a good idea.   This country is struggling and is entirely dependent on handouts.   It's a tech savvy country in terms of using the internet to generate income with proof coming from the .tv domain name.

You want to target a country to back their currency with bitcoin, that's the country.

Tuvalu is a bad idea.  The Prime Minister is a scammer of the first order.  He jets around the globe begging for money since his island is sinking because of global warming.  It's not.

They are expanding the International airport to accomodate "green" tourists who want to see the sea rise.  The airport is AT sea level.

They changed the laws recently to allow foreign ownership of land to try and cash in on the eco-crisis.

caveat emptor

So basically you're saying Tuvalu would be perfect place for bitcoin to start?

I was waiting for this!  ;D

http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/30835985.jpg



Tuvalu, Im coming!

On a purely sarcastic level, sure it's a great fit.  On a "move bitcoin forward", "raise awareness", "we're not just drug dealers and tax cheats" level, it's counterproductive.

I love the comedy value however.

hmmm...please go back to school.
Your grammar makes me cry- I could not even get a sense of what you wanted to express.

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lmmcx3jnaT1qafrh6.jpg

No can go back to school.  They ask me to go home.

http://s23.postimg.org/3zcjwo90b/reportcard1615.jpg

Tuvalu...
Couldn't that country invest in couple of upcoming ASICs mining rigs if the bitcoin was green lighted over there?
They could also become the Cayman islands for bitcoins with cold wallets inside "climate controlled", hurricane proof buried bunkers. They could rent them out like a physical bitcoin bank. All in bitcoin of course.
They could include the definition and protection of crypto currency into their constitution and becoming, not just a new Cayman Island, but a new Switzerland for crypto.

It is not so much to pay out a country. If the country believes in the cause, no matter how little they can contribute by investing into the program (lands, etc), then slowly but surely bitcoin millionaires will come, if Tuvalu builds it.

+1

Tuvalu, well i been there.
The country basically survives from an Australian, New zealand trust fund.
Would they give up membership of world bank and asian develpment bank and risk relations form the hand who feeds them for some for ASICS they would have to buy?? Who is going to explain to them what a bitcoins is, most struggle to read a newspaper.
Bunkers, the majority of the useful land is 1 meter above high tide make in the middle of the ocean.  Who is paying for upgrading internet infrastructure in the middle of the ocean??

Tuvalu is a member of the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
Tuvalu maintains close relations with Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, Japan, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the European Union. It has diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan); the ROC maintains the only resident embassy in Tuvalu and has a large assistance programme in the islands.
Tuvalu is party to a treaty of friendship with the United States,

The highest elevation is 4.6 metres (15 ft) above sea level on Niulakita, which gives Tuvalu the second-lowest maximum elevation of any country (after the Maldives). However, the highest elevations are typically in narrow storm dunes on the ocean side of the islands which are prone to overtopping in tropical cyclones, as occurred with Cyclone Bebe, which was a very early-season storm that passed through the Tuvaluan atolls in October 1972.
Because of the low elevation, the islands that make up this nation are threatened by current and future sea level rise.
Additionally, Tuvalu is annually affected by king tide events which peak towards the end of the austral summer, and raise the sea level higher than a normal high tide. As a result of historical sea level rise, the king tide events lead to flooding of low lying areas, which is compounded when sea levels are further raised by La Niña effects or local storms and waves. In the future, sea level rise may threaten to submerge the nation entirely as it is estimated that a sea level rise of 20–40 centimetres (8–16 inches) in the next 100 years could make Tuvalu uninhabitable.

Target a country like Greece, their citizens are desperate for a way out of the banking system that has done nothing but mercilessly screw them all.

I am still not convinced why Tuvalu is not the best place on Earth to keep my cold wallet though...



(sarcasm)

Damn good place for the cold walled indeed.

The only logical place for Bitcoin to be the Official currency would be Satoshies residence,  Iceland.   
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=186686.0 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=186686.0)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vVCSUafFVI


slab city anyone? :D

Not sure about slab city but a serious contented would have to be "Christiania" in Copenhagen. Its a Anarchist community in the middle of Copenhagen. Its got about 1000 inhabitants and they do actually use there one currency (the Løn ). It was formed in 1971 and they only have 9 Rules, an open cannabis trade, exempt from smoking ban. A truly driving futuristic community. here is a wiki-link.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freetown_Christiania (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freetown_Christiania)

+1

wow, i was going to post that city, but had forgotten the name.
Google gave me slabcity, which is a joke.




but christiania is a good thought worth!

you have to make sure they are truly recognized by the international community as soveriegn. But yes count me in, i would pay 1 bitcoin.

 Freetown Christiania is not truly recognized by the international community, but the "Principality of Hutt River" claims to be an independent sovereign state having achieved legal status on 21 April 1972, although it remains unrecognised except by other micronations. It has 30 full time residents, and 13,000-18,000  overseas citizens and is 75 square kilometres big, its one flag currency, seal and passport. Any Aussies here who would have a chat with Prince Leonard I of Hutt ?

Wikilink http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Hutt_River (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principality_of_Hutt_River)

wait are you saying that you are "Prince Leonard I of Hutt"?

sorry but the prospects for a landlocked nation with only 1 neighboring country are not so great  :-\ You really need access to an ocean or atleast 2 neighbors (so you can play the off each other).

AND
What about creating our own country?
+1

Where to send 1 btc from me? :)

//

Some of those? Or maybe some with LOW PKB?
229     Nauru    9,945    October 30, 2011    0.00014%    2011 census result
228     Tuvalu    11,264    July 1, 2012    0.00016%    Yearly official estimate
212     Saint Kitts and Nevis    51,970    July 1, 2009    0.00073%    Yearly official estimate
204     Dominica    71,293    May 14, 2011    0.001%    Preliminary 2011 census result
194     Grenada    103,328    May 12, 2011    0.0015%    2011 census result
193     Kiribati    104,573    July 1, 2012    0.0015%    Yearly official estimate
189     Saint Lucia    166,526    May 10, 2010    0.0024%    Preliminary 2010 census result

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_population

185     Tuvalu    37
184     Kiribati    173
183     Marshall Islands    182
182     São Tomé and Príncipe    264
181     Tonga    476
180     Dominica    497
179     Comoros    600
178     Samoa    683
177     Saint Vincent and the Grenadines    712

ESCROW
@ John (John K.)
I could send 1st btc even now :)

//
Expect some media attention in this topic :)

EDIT:
We are on Reddit:
http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/1d89bs/bitcoin_users_plan_to_buy_a_small_country/

seriously if someone big in the bitcoin community would just get behind this than we really could do it. Everyone talk so much no one ever starts taking steps.

Why do you want to pay another country to adopt Bitcoin if it doesnt fully support the idea in the first place?
All you probably get is some law in their codes that states that "Bitcoin" is officially second legal tender in that state, a PR hit and thats it. They will probably not take any more efforts to propone the use or protection of Bitcoin in any way. They may even reverse all those steps as soon as another party apporaches them with a bigger reward/stick in their hands.

Why not try to pursuade any nation to adopt Bitcoin because they would indeed profit from the decision?
This way you get the "full faith and recognition" of the nation, and I know thats worth a lot to some people.
You get an active economy that uses Bitcoin instead of one that rather sticks to its old ways and lots of PR hits in the time to come.
The recent Zimbabwe example was probably a hoax but a realistic one at that. A country like Zimbabwe might very well look at the possible merrits of such a decision and decide for its country to adopt Bitcoin because it would provide an improvement to its current status.

Just my 22M BTC

You are free to declare yourself a country, anytime, and anywhere. However, nobody will take you seriously, which translates to the simple truth that you will have no legitimacy as a nation.

http://www.wikihow.com/Start-Your-Own-Country

How about - to convince  51% of citizens (Tuvalu / Nauru) - in legal campaign - to vote for Bitcoin President and Bitcoin Prime Minister? :D

No. Aussie is just slang for Australian and thought a resident might want to phone the prince. Of all nations i think the Principality of Hutt it is the best option. Yes some moderator needs to get in contact with the king of hutt. He most likely has never heard of bitcoin. The PHR do not pay taxes to the ATO and he charges 0.5%. Hong Kong recognises Hutt River as a legitimate state in regards of incorporation for a company, but is reviewing the recognition after the issue was raised in an adverse manner by Australian media. Cant see why being land locked is an issue.

New nation, yeh great where is the virgen land and no status?
Nauru, Kiribati and Tuvalu use Austalien Dollar and the Marshall island uses US dollar. Been to them except Nauru and u can forget about them. Who is going to pay for internet infrastructure in the middle of the ocean? At high water mark most of the land is 1 meter above sea level.
some inhabitants of Freetown Christiania most likely use bitcoin already but it has no legal status thats the problem.  

check out the thread i just made thats sort of about this thread https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=189295.0;topicseen

Ok, we need to have John K. (or somebody like him) as Escrow person... and start sending BTC :)


How about Tonga?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tonga

Why reinvent the wheel?

Bitcoin is a virtual currency:  why not a virtual nation?

Wirtland has done all the early legwork, legal and otherwise.  And last I heard they were trying to negotiate for some real territory, purchased from an existing country (Nauru).

Seems like a marriage made in heaven...

http://www.wirtland.com/

I don't know, tthe Marshall Islands are always minting special coins for collectors, maybe they could start minting Bitcoins too.

I guess we would prefer to have 51% of votes in a small country... this way it would be "real". And some of us could move there... ;)

Private Islands for Sale
http://www.privateislandsonline.com/

Gunpowder Island, Bermuda
http://www.privateislandsonline.com/islands/gunpowder-island


Ile de Caille
Grenada, Caribbean
http://www.privateislandsonline.com/islands/ile-de-caille
The island includes four uninhabited houses, an airstrip and a network of roads.
400 acres / 161.87 ha  |  Freehold  |  Private Island
USD 20,000,000  ($130 = 1 btc) = 153 846 BTC

Well... you know what Rothschild said:  "Give me control of a country's money, and I care not who makes its laws."  Close enough.

As for moving there?  Well, they're working on that.  Some bitcoin would probably help.  With strings...

since  the "Principality of Hutt River" and "Freetown Christianiais" have been rejected. what about Pitcain Islands. The islands are inhabited by the descendants of the Bounty mutineers.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitcairn_Islands (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pitcairn_Islands)

It could be one of the easiest...
But - Tonga could be better - it's more independent.

Escrow anyone? I want to send 1st BTC! :D

Tonga is to big i think. Two treats going now really confusing.

What about a native american "nation" in the western US?  Lots of sun for alternative energy, high poverty rate, I'm sure some would be eager to jump on board.  Its could be a start.

Pro's: Getting back at whitey as incentive.

Con's. I'm white

back at post number 66

LOL!

Well.. The land does belong to the CA teacher's union, something you would want bitcoin nothing to be associated with. But bitcoin would be cool with individual teachers and their family for sure.

Great find.

@phelix

Who do you suggest for escrow?

Love this idea ... maybe a joint kickstarter campagn and btc pledging system is needed?

I think the better idea would be to implement bitcoin contracts and take advantage of them

https://en.bitcoin.it/wiki/Contracts#Example_3:_Assurance_contracts

This is where we should make the real free state project, instead of trying to build it inside of mordor... And the first step can be bribing them into making bitcoin the national currency. That would attract the attention of a lot of libertarians.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuvalu

I thought the point of bitcoin is that you don't need a government to adopt it. In which case this whole discussion is beside the point!

still it would be nice to stick it to all the people who say, it isnt a real currency because you cant pay taxes in it =P.

May be of interest to those of a certain attitude toward politics, personal freedom, and seafaring: /r/xnation (http://www.reddit.com/r/xnation)

Full. Of. Dudes.

See Tony Montana for that:

Money always leads to interested bitches. That's really why I am hoarding like a mad man.  ;D

Ok, so if there would be anyone willing to do escrow...

I could pay somebody part of price of the plane ticket - to Tuvalu, Tonga or any other "interesting" country... just to go there, and to try to talk to some officials about Bitcoins. Somebody with good talk and good PR for sure. The full plane ticket should be less than 10 btc.

1st Bitcoin from me. I could send even now - to escrow person.

Who is willing to take a flight or to donate some Bitcoins? :)

Tuvalu, Tonga no hope

Looks like Iceland (Satoshis home country) is the frontrunner to have Crypto money first. Good location, way better than Nauru people know, accept and utilize bitcoins and the pirate party already has a say about it in parliament.

http://falkvinge.net/2013/04/28/icelandic-pirate-party-wins-enters-parliament/

Nauru currently lacks money to perform many of the basic functions of government; for example, the National Bank of Nauru is insolvent.
There are no personal taxes in Nauru. The unemployment rate is estimated to be 90 percent, and of those who have jobs, the government employs 95 percent
Tourism is not a major contributor to the economy
In the 1990s, Nauru became a tax haven and offered passports to foreign nationals for a fee,
The inter-governmental Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) identified Nauru as one of 15 "non-cooperative" countries in its fight against money laundering. During the 1990s, it was possible to establish a licensed bank in Nauru for only $25,000 with no other requirements.
From 2001 to 2008, it accepted aid from the Australian Government in exchange for housing the Nauru detention centre. (reopend 2012)
There are no banks or ATMs in Nauru
Nauru had 9,378 residents as of July 2011.
The country is a member of the United Nations.
The Currency in use is the Australian dollar (AUD)  GDP 2006 estimate Total  $36.9 million
Nauruans are the most obese people in the world.
Nauru is the world's smallest republic.

Look at nauru on the map, that place is SOOO small. And its entirely soveriegn and entirely broke. We libertarians really need to move there and take it over, it would be soo easy. And after we did we would have our own soveriegn nation, totally legitimate, recognized by every nation in the world as legitimate, no bs of trying to homestead some colony out in the middle of no where and spend the next 20 years attempting to gain legitimacy in the international community.

seriously look it up on google maps, you will crap your self when you see how small that totally soveriegn nation is.

I think everyone is putting the cart before the horse.

There's no country in the world that will be willing to take up Bitcoin as their currency because their financial interactions with the outside world would be at the mercy of the volatile market prices.

Sure internally they're fine. They can price as they please.

Let's say it's 1BTC for a loaf of bread (keeping the numbers simple). Everything is going fine and people on Bitcoin Island do their own thing. All of a sudden, the price of Bitcoin crashes and I decide to pick them up at 500BTC per US Dollar.

Now I can buy up all the bread on Bitcoin Island for a few Dollars.

Note the inverse of this situation isn't true and the islanders are insulated from the outside world unless it's dependent on tourism/exports, in which case those businesses will suffer from being too expensive (to the outside world).

It's not possible to run your country on a currency you don't control without value stability against other financial actors.

@Inedible
How about to run it on gold, silver and Bitcoins?

Pretty much.

There seem to be a couple of countries with several official currencies.

Why would you want to do that?

Definitely.

It would take ages and tons of effort to get it recognized. This is so much more difficult... (The same goes for the whole virtual country idea).

That and legal tender status making it an official currency giving us legal certainty.

So what?

This is a big issue....   If some big bully states tells them to shut it we are out of luck. Publicity nonetheless.

That would of course be better but more difficult.

lol. Easy, we need to take it slow.

You got it all wrong. It would only be an ADDITIONAL official currency.



What does it take to make a currency an "official" currency? Would be enough if small state xy officially proclaims that it will optionally accept BTC for tax and other payments at a rate equivalent of 0.001USD/BTC?

+1 to iceland now that they have the PP in govt.

The founder of the PP gave a keynote at the bitcoin conference 2 years ago. 

They looooove bitcoin.

How do you mean?

I mean the country would be willing to take TAXES in:
gold, silver, btc and their "old currency"

THIS IS GOOD:
:)

You could use Bitcoin as an additional currency but then people would be less likely to be used day to day which pretty much defeats asking a small country to make Bitcoin it's official currency.

The only way you could do it is to have everything on Bitcoin Island dynamically priced so that all your goods prices vary from minute to minute.

Love the name "Bitcoin Island"

All you need is for it to be legal tender and backstopped vs a bigger currency by the govt.

Not gonna lie. I kinda grinned when it came to mind  ;D

How does backstopping work? In my mind I see one very unhappy Chancellor shoring up the value of Bitcoin as the likes of George Soros bets against Bitcoin (a la Britain being forced out of the ERM).

How about supporting them:
http://www.seasteading.org/

https://www.facebook.com/seasteading
?

here is their address 1FexWDptSXFWsZvdLoBckZgVFWytHjsSu8

Once I've got some money, I am completely down for this.

Would be nice to have a friendly country to retire in  ;D

Source:
http://www.seasteading.org/donate/
Bitcoin Donations
Send your Bitcoin donation to this wallet address:
1FexWDptSXFWsZvdLoBckZgVFWytHjsSu8
Note: Donations made in BitCoins are not tax-deductible under current US tax law.

Shame Bitcoin doesn't guarantee it would be filled with friendly folks. If anything it guarantees there will be scammers close by lol

+1  Exactly! There's no state where we are heading.

This assumes that the local currency is stable, but in many places that isn't true.   Cash registers at checkouts in many countries already recoimpute prices on the spot.  It's necessary where the local currency is devaluing rapidly.  Unfortunate, but true.

Scammers can only exist because they stay anonymous on the web. If they live in close proximity, and continue to scam in person, they'll get screwed rather quickly. If they keep all their scamming to online only, then no one would even know, and it won't affect anyone either way.

What do you think about this seasteading.org project ?

Am I the only one to remember that the bitcoin's inventor was so smart, he did it anonymously?

Nobody knows who he is, or who she is, and it would be a sad ending for his project if bitcoin was now seen as the regular currency of a small foreign country. We don't need countries. They were not a good invention. Please, let's keep bitcoin outside the regulated world.

Even if bitcoin is adopted by a country, that country won't have the power or ability to regulate it. That's kind of the point of bitcoin. On the other hand, it would play at the whole "country" game, and give bitcoin an advantage by allowing it to outmaneuver other countries' regulations.

I don't think that would be a sad ending, I think it would be a great leap. What if with Bitcoin, that country becomes a nation of the internet, and looses all government ties?

If a country doesn't mind losing the power to regulate its currency, it could as well adopt the US dollar or the Euro, and this has already happened in several parts of the world. When the local currency is weak, people favor American banknotes. Some of them may switch to bitcoin, but I fear the worst if it becomes official. Many politicians in Europe right now are going mad about offshore banking, and they would be even angrier if a small country would adopt a cryptocurrency without any control.

Everyone has preconceptions and/or misconceptions about any country, so I really think it's better for bitcoin not to be associated with anyone of them to keep a clean and new image. Imagine North Korea makes bitcoin legal tender!

Principality of Sealand

It would probably be more useful to have a large company adopt bitcoin- Like Apple, preinstalling bitcoin software on every machine.

@crazy_rabbit

Well ok.
So we have about 20+ or more people willing to donate 1BTC to "try to convince" some other people to accept Bitcoins... I think we should start doing something :D

there are some smart ways to use money...
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2279261/Adam-Pacitti-spent-500-billboard-begging-job-spends-pay-packet-say-thanks.html

Do you remember this guy? He made it to the world media... :D

I think someone should start a bitcoin commune before trying for a country.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/propertynews/4952810/Whole-village-put-up-for-sale-for-22-million.html


Whole village put up for sale for £22 million
An entire village, complete with two blacksmiths, a shop and a cricket club, has been put up for sale for a cool £22.5 million
:D

So, anyone still working on this?

the OP and many other posts have valuated this idea totally wrong..

the OP mentions "recognised countries of 13,000 - 50,000 citizens"

that means there are probably only 500 businesses at most.

buy a tablet PC < $100, give someone wlll trained in bitcoins $100 to consult with businesses and give them a fully set up bitcoin ready terminal(the tablet), plus training to use it.

total =<$200 x 500 businesses = < $100k (<200btc)

not 100,000 bitcoins.

no bitcoin town project should exceed $100k, or it just wont work especially finshaggies uptopian town costing him $4.5BILLION (half th market cap of bitcoin)

everyone should attempt to make their own town bitcoin friendly by offering the businesses a consultation/set-up for between $0*-$200**

*voluntary labour (consultation/training) and the business using their own equipment
**paid consultation and a tablet

we should not try making just one bitcoin friendly town, as that in my eyes will become a 'concentration camp' where finshaggy and others want all bitcoiners to go to... we should decentalise bitcoins use by making ALL towns bitcoin friendly

This is a pretty excellent idea. The right person could make a full time job of this.

I created a company to do just this, i make money by affiliate marketing.

So far i have no clients yet, as i started just recently.

but i believe this is a great idea.

If someone could sponsor me a terminal that would be great as well.

In the Netherlands they are making progress by organizing 'events' where they get a handful of bars/restaurants to accept bitcoin (about 10~20 in a single city) and than announce it here and on other bitcoin societies and have a great day together while spending bitcoin.

Everyone is happy and bitcoin acceptation will spread.

Everyone can help out by just asking "do you accept bitcoin" every time they go out. Eventually the store owners will get interested.

zimmah, this may be interesting for you.
http://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/news/3-overstock-bitcoin-profits-used-spread-bitcoin-adoption/2014/06/22

plan out your business plan, strategy etc to them.

a winning strategy is if you get one merchant onboard with your own funds, and show video proof that its a business adopted bitcoin, and that business can be contacted via a yellow pages / business directory. (to prove legitimacy) then you have more chance of getting sponsorship to reimburse costs/provide stock(terminal) for next merchant

... worth a try atleast

If a country would make BTC it's official currency it would have to pay wages in BTC, make laws of minimal wage and given the volatility they would have to change those laws each day. In import export relations with other countrys a contract made in BTC would not hold for a month and they would have to change prices on imported products every day. Also they would find it almost imposible to dezvolt economical relations with other countrys because they will be unable to have a banking system based on BTC (wich is great by the way, but not for a small country that doesn't have resources and a complet industry).

how about an imperium in imperio within the US and Canada?

start with baby steps

bitcoin is a baby, and we are its parents, looking after it and helping it grow up to have morals and do the right thing for other people... but as a parent some people see the dream of their child running in the olympics or doing a marathon...

be patient, bitcoin is still a todler, yes its at its phase in life of having tantrums and trying to shout at authority figures...,, but still, all it can handle right now is babysteps

so teach it to walk and have new experiences going into shops, parks,holiday resorts, and as it grows, then let it go out and play in the big wide world, and get some independence without authority figures telling it what to do

Wrong, wrong, wrong.
The Bitcoin Country is in order to make bitcoin more legal.



I live in Poland and polish government said
If you selling bitcoin you need to pay tax 19% (or 32% - its depends how many you selling) of earning and 23% VAT because bitcoin is not a currency.
I don't think this is OK.


Small countries like an Vatican, sign the contracts in USD, not in in local currency.

The whole idea is that a country decided bitcoin's national currency, and the rest is less important.

you dont need to money grab millions to buy an island to do this..

just find an island that already has freedom of laws away from whatever mainland/continent. (which you would need to do anyway if you were to buy an island)

and simply not need to money grab multi-million dollar land purchase, to instead cheaply switch the inhabitants over to bitcoin with my last idea..

again making an island bitcoin friendly, is making it a concentration camp... think bigger.. make the world bitcoin friendly and get laws changed.

using the quoted post about poland and VAT. if the polish want an island that is VAT free for bitcoins.. come to england, itsa nice big island, you can do your trades without issues and you can get many merchants, hotels, vacation spots to accept bitcoin.. if ngland is too big for you, come to isle of man or jersey, smaller island, again no need to purchase it, again tax rules on bitcoin dont apply.. and even better people are already starting some bitcoin stuff on these smaller islands.

.......
oh wait its not about the island.. its about being fund managers of a massive money grab... i see finshaggy inspired operation of greed, rather then actually producing something of value.

if you are willing to get off your sofa to dig sewers and ditches to lay pipes and cables to build an island. then go use that same energy to change laws by lobbying,.. its far cheaper and closer to home for you. if your not into lobbying but want financial freedom o an island. then pack your bags you can move to one today, without needing to buy the whole island

every country is printing their own money, they dont need(want) bitcoin to replace their currency.
if you want to see real price spikes, bitcoin needs wall.st , nothing more, nothing less

You do not understand. For me it is important to state announced Bitcoin as its currency.

Then Poland and other countries will not require silly taxes, from not know which, because bitcoin will be the legal currency.

In Poland, a few million is not able to lobby marijuana over many years, and look at handful and bitcoin.

Seeking legitimacy from nation-states is both bad form and poor strategy.

Nation-states CANNOT lend Bitcoin any legitimacy, because they have none to give. All nations derive their authority from violence, and are therefore illegitimate entities to be despised and resisted.

Bitcoin is sovereign above all nations, because it does NOT depend on violence for its value. Bitcoin is the first form of money in the history of Earth with this unique and vitally important characteristic.

Yours in compassion and solidarity,

World Citizen Beliathon

https://i.imgur.com/c1L5N0W.jpg

This!!! Nobody actually needs to use Bitcoins for this anywhere. Updated the OP to make things more clear.