[2019-3-4] Bitcoin Early Adopter Launches World’s First Seastead

[CoinClarity]

You may have heard about this story through other news sources already, but mine was the first to have an actual interview with the man behind the project, Elwar. I've included parts of the story and interview below, and you can read the whole thing here:

https://coinclarity.com/bitcoin-early-adopter-seastead/

Besides buying Lamborghinis, going on cruises and attending thousand dollar-ticket Bitcoin Conferences around the world, what else do BTC’s early adopters do with their money? In the case of Chad Elwartowski, ex software engineer and retired bitcoin investor, the answer is pretty novel, and indicative of the amount of creativity, curiosity and bravery that many crypto investors have: seasteading.

What is Seasteading?

Seasteading is the idea of removing oneself from the confines of society and government by building an unregulated, nationless house in international waters. This can be accomplished by anchoring a livable platform to the ocean floor with a steel cylinder, otherwise known as a spar. The design is similar to an oil platform, but for the purposes of housing a single family, much smaller and less costly.

Why Become a Seasteader?

When asked on the forum about the advantages to living in a seastead as opposed to living in a house boat, Elwar answered “Sovereignty.” One gets the feeling by reading Elwar’s posts on the forum that, after establishing a degree of financial mobility, freedom becomes one of the most important things that money can buy. This includes freedom from government regulation and societal restrictions, as well as a clearer control over one’s own destiny.



Interview with a Bitcoining Seasteader

We caught up with Elwar online, who was kind enough to grant us an interview about his revolutionary project.

Coin Clarity: I read in one of your earliest posts [on the Bitcoin Forum] that you bought your first BTC at $16 a coin, in July 2011. As an early adopter, it seems like you were a pretty firm believer in bitcoin since the beginning. What was compelling to you about bitcoin that made you see it as a long-term investment?

Chad Elwartowski: I didn’t like the idea of having my money in a currency that loses value over time as a feature. I had researched gold and tried to find a way to use gold as a currency, but any options out there required that you pay fees for storage and fees every time you used the card. Too much to be practical. For me Bitcoin isn’t an investment, it’s my new currency that doesn’t lose value as a feature.

CC: How much prep and planning was involved before you began to put things into action?

CE: We have evolved the plan over time. Even now we’re fixing and changing things on the prototype to see what makes things better. Yesterday we added chains to the anchor lines so it’s anchor/chain/rope/chain. There were tiny jerking motions in big waves. That should clear those up.



CC: Sorry, I have to ask: what do you plan to do to fend of pirates? What kind of defense plans do you have in place?

CE: Pirates are just burglars on the sea. Except it’s a lot harder to get into our house than a house on land. If someone wants to steal our laptops and cell phones it’s a lot easier to break into a hotel room than moor your boat, get into your dinghy, climb up 2 meters with no ladder (if they can do that I’ll give them my laptop as a reward for being impressed). Plus we would be sitting there for 10-15 minutes watching from our deck as they do this. We have IP cameras covering the whole place as well. And guns are legal in Thailand. And even more legal on the seastead.

(you can read the interview in its entirety at CoinClarity.com)

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[Betwrong]

Thank you for the interview and for bringing up this interesting subject. Since there is no perfect state in the world, we need more diversity in this regard, we need more independent states, even with the population of just 2 people, who, having no other government, can live by their own rules. Such microstates may come up with some interesting ideas which can be shared with others for the benefit of everyone.

I want to conclude with a quote by Joe Quirk (the guy who appears in the video on your site) from Seasteading - Anarchy on the High Seas with Joe Quirk :

"... we have to demonstrate something better and change the world the same way Hong Kong changed Communist China, by setting a better example."

I can only wish all the best to all these brave people in this fascinating and challenging endeavor.

[yefi]

CE: Pirates are just burglars on the sea. Except it’s a lot harder to get into our house than a house on land. If someone wants to steal our laptops and cell phones it’s a lot easier to break into a hotel room than moor your boat, get into your dinghy, climb up 2 meters with no ladder (if they can do that I’ll give them my laptop as a reward for being impressed). Plus we would be sitting there for 10-15 minutes watching from our deck as they do this. We have IP cameras covering the whole place as well. And guns are legal in Thailand. And even more legal on the seastead.

I'd be less worried about my laptop and more worried about being kidnapped tbh.

[elda34b]

I'd be less worried about my laptop and more worried about being kidnapped tbh.

True, who would help us if we're in the middle of the ocean. What happen if there's a tsunami too?
It's still a good idea though. Love the creativity.

[CoinClarity]

I'd be less worried about my laptop and more worried about being kidnapped tbh.

I think the pirates concern was my greatest... Yeah, kidnapped, robbed, blown up, who knows what? Takes some massive cajones in my opinion, that's why it surprised me when he said he didn't consider himself to be adventurous.

True, who would help us if we're in the middle of the ocean. What happen if there's a tsunami too?
It's still a good idea though. Love the creativity.

They're actually only about 12 miles off shore, far enough to be considered international waters. From what I gather the seas surrounding their locale are very mild and not prone to storms or high waves. Tsunami tho... just gotta hope your engineering is as sound as you think it is in that case.

[buwaytress]

Ah, that's nice to see. There's actually quite a bit of talk in Project Development section regarding seasteading. Even theymos himself started a thread about it, but really pleased to see Elwar's project taking in a bit now. The prototype does not look very comfortable atm, but I suppose comfort's not the point. Always a bit envious of all you adopters...

As a Southeast Asian myself, I'd caution against underestimating our sea pirates. With or without the guns!

[Kemarit]

I admire Elwar for his creativity and i think we have several thread around in the Bitcoin Discussion about seasteading, who knows, maybe this just open a new frontier for humans and maybe in the next 50 years, we will definitely see some "sea-zoned". Of course there is a big risk here, specially tsunami, we all know that there was a big tsunami in 2004 because of a massive Indian Ocean earthquake so that's one thing that needs to be consider. I'm also a Southeast Asian as well so I agree with @buwaytress specially those sea pirates around.

[hugeblack]

The idea of ​freedom and distance from the central systems or the control of governments on the money was frequent many of the early innovators of Bitcoin, but now bitcoin converted to the instrument of speculation for a quick profit and then return gains into paper money in order to pay more taxes.

[BitHodler]

I can only wish all the best to all these brave people in this fascinating and challenging endeavor.

Same here. It really amazes me how Bitcoin stimulates free thought and also makes people actually put their thoughts to work in order to force through much needed changes.

We can all sit back and wait for governments to change, but it won't ever happen. It's you that needs to set that first step in an attempt to improve your life and claim your rights instead of behaving like a slave all day.

There always need to be one to set that first step, and as time goes by, others will follow. With time we might even have global satellite reach where we can send and receive transactions without internet. That's freedom.

[1Referee]

I think the pirates concern was my greatest... Yeah, kidnapped, robbed, blown up, who knows what? Takes some massive cajones in my opinion, that's why it surprised me when he said he didn't consider himself to be adventurous.

You're exposed to risks pretty much anywhere anytime, regardless of your location. I think in general, the risk ratio for him is more or less equal to when he's living on land.

I would love to see an island of equal minded Bitcoin fanatics peacefully living together with a fair and honest governing body where each vote/say counts. It starts as a small seastead, but develops into something that slowly but surely will represent an island that's somewhat disconnected from the toxic elements the legacy system exposes them to. Would be a damn cool experiment.

[CoinClarity]

From the Ocean Builders Facebook group page.