Bitcoin Nation

[coastermonger]

Sooner or later, I strongly believe that BTC users will be independently wealthy enough to band together and form their own free state. 

Bitcoin itself is just a tool, but there may be those who rally around it due to similar ideological, ethical, or tax reasons. 

Be it a micronation, a sea-steading flotilla, or a purchased territory, I'm interested in what the first tepid steps toward sovereignty would look like.  The difference is that bitcoin cannot and should not be centralized, but this upstart country would be able to directly benefit from the existing BTC infrastructure and help foster it's free exchange, legitimacy, and economic functions.

I'm interested in what you think:

1.) Is it likely that BTC users could purchase a small amount of land from a country crippled in debt? 

2.) What would be the prime locations?

3.) How would issues such as taxation work? 

It ultimately may be too early to tell, but I wouldn't be surprised to see this idea gain traction in the decades to come.

[jgorham]

I think it's more likely that peer-to-peer states will come into existence. These p2p states would have the capability to create their own coins or to be non-monetary sovereign and elect to use btc or any cryptocurrency as their state currency.

[zimmah]

i believe there's already one in japan. but it may not be exactly what you mean.

[countryfree]

Please, no!
It's one of bitcoin's greatest asset that it is outside all nations and countries, please don't build a new one. Bitcoin shall not be used to create a new nation, but to destroy all the existing ones. Who needs a nation?

[jgorham]

Who needs a nation?

I do!

[Peter R]

Has anyone read the book The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age by James Dale Davidson and Lord William Rees-Mogg?

Although this book was published in 1999, it seems more apt now in 2013 with the rise of cryptocurrencies.  The authors' premise is that the Nation State will collapse from its growing bureaucratic weight, and that governance will become more local once again.  I highly recommend it.  

[empoweoqwj]

Please, no!
It's one of bitcoin's greatest asset that it is outside all nations and countries, please don't build a new one. Bitcoin shall not be used to create a new nation, but to destroy all the existing ones. Who needs a nation?

Couldn't agree more. I've never believed in this weird concept of "nationhood" - bitcoin is a great step towards the abolishment of this crazy man-made construct.

[Ibian]

Been thinking about the same thing. Maybe something like an artificial floating island, possibly a huge ship-city that can sail around the world as needed. With an airport for easy travel and obviously easy to anchor a personal boat to it for those so inclined. We would have to import everything this way, but we can afford to and it would also mean that other nations benefit from us since they would be making money.

[bryant.coleman]

The idea of micro-nations have been tried before and has failed every time. No country will give a part of its territory away, no matter how poor it is. The Maharishi Mahesh Yogi even offered to pay $2 billion for just a few hectares of land, but even the poorest nations rejected his offer.

Even if some third world country is ready to part with its territory, no other UN member will recognize the micro-nation.

[Ibian]

Hence the artificial floating city-ship in international waters. Nobody would have to give up land. Doesn't even have to be an official nation, just an independent community.

[Sindelar1938]

Most likely a seasteading community

But yes, it is a distinct possibility

[bryant.coleman]

Hence the artificial floating city-ship in international waters. Nobody would have to give up land. Doesn't even have to be an official nation, just an independent community.

I don't know whether the world police (i.e the US) will allow that. And additionally, the ship-nation will be extremely dependent on the outside world for even the basic amenities (food, clothes.etc).

[Ibian]

Hence the artificial floating city-ship in international waters. Nobody would have to give up land. Doesn't even have to be an official nation, just an independent community.

I don't know whether the world police (i.e the US) will allow that. And additionally, the ship-nation will be extremely dependent on the outside world for even the basic amenities (food, clothes.etc).

For food at least there is fishery. Anything else, yes we would have to import unless we can somehow mine raw materials out of the ocean floor? But importing is a good thing so far as being left alone, nobody wants to cut off a steady money supply provided it's big enough. As for the US, they won't be in control for much longer and even if we did it right now, we could make a deal with China or Russia or some other large enough nation to pay them to guard us.

[LiteCoinGuy]

lets choose a warm island for that 

[deisik]

Been thinking about the same thing. Maybe something like an artificial floating island, possibly a huge ship-city that can sail around the world as needed. With an airport for easy travel and obviously easy to anchor a personal boat to it for those so inclined. We would have to import everything this way, but we can afford to and it would also mean that other nations benefit from us since they would be making money.

Something like that one?

[bryant.coleman]

Something like that one?

That building is anchored in the ocean bed. But such shallow areas are not available for us. Floating islands are the only option.

[Cryddit]

That's not a building, that's a render.  The "Freedom Ship" initiative collected several USD$million and failed to build anything. Most people agree it was a scam.

Naval architects, looking at the proposed size of the darn thing, were pretty unanimous in their "Why are people giving these idiots money to build something that can't exist?"  response -- mostly because the ocean has swells miles long that greatly exceed the proposed height of the vessel, meaning it would be an unsupported spar between wave crests - and at the proposed size/mass, we can't build anything capable of supporting itself on that big a span.  So, it would break up.

[deisik]

Something like that one?

That building is anchored in the ocean bed. But such shallow areas are not available for us. Floating islands are the only option.

They say that it will travel the globe and would circle the Earth every two years, spending roughly 70 percent of its time moored outside major cities and ports. Since it will be too large to go in most harbours, it will have its own airport on the top deck to enable passengers to arrive and depart by air...

[deisik]

That's not a building, that's a render.  The "Freedom Ship" initiative collected several USD$million and failed to build anything. Most people agree it was a scam.

Naval architects, looking at the proposed size of the darn thing, were pretty unanimous in their "Why are people giving these idiots money to build something that can't exist?"  response -- mostly because the ocean has swells miles long that greatly exceed the proposed height of the vessel, meaning it would be an unsupported spar between wave crests - and at the proposed size/mass, we can't build anything capable of supporting itself on that big a span.  So, it would break up.

It seems that it is still afloat (no pun intended)...

[Cryddit]

If you ever needed proof that the Discovery Channel employs no one who can do math and doesn't bother fact-checking, there it is.  This thing has been around for years and gotten no closer to construction.