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The Lonely Planet: “Analysis” of the blockchain utopia dream
Enticed by the Utopia voice, they desperately clambered through the gates of heaven.
Uruk was the first urban country in mankind history, the second city that Nimrod established in Shire. With over 5000 years of history, it was the center of ancient civilization.
There were walls, palaces, temples, heroes such as Gilgamesh, as well as astronomy pioneers Ptolemy and Pliny and cuneiform script in all their glory.
“This was the first real metropolis in human history.” However, only desert ruins remain today.
Now, the modern blockchain technology wishes to establish a utopian “blockchain kingdom”.
In addition to the movements of for-profit institutions, some investors, philanthropists and scholars have begun to work together to create a utopian society.
They plan to create an artificial floating island in the Pacific and establish their own government. Cryptocurrency will be issued nationwide on this island.
This project began with the French Polynesian government, which was founded by the startup Blue Frontiers and the non-profit organization SeaSteading and is expected to be completed by 2020.
Interestingly, SeaSteading listed Peter Thiel as one of the founders, and as a well-known supporter of cryptocurrencies, he was supportive of Bitcoin even in periods when the market was severely underperforming.
He was also an early investor in technology companies such as Facebook and a former adviser to US President Donald Trump.
The concept is to build a society free of crime and more socially, politically and economically progressive.
Nathalie Mezza-Garcia, a political scientist and researcher at Blue Frontiers, commented: “If you don’t want to live under a specific government, you have the option to move to another island in the future.”
The Blue Frontiers website further states: “Our mission is to drive the long-term development of the SeaSteading, and our current focus is to increase public awareness and build the core SeaSteading community to establish the first SeaSteads through studying engineering, law and business challenges.”.
As an experimental project, there will only be 300 houses on the floating island, and the success of this project will help launch similar projects in coming years.
The island will have its own form of government, and the government will also support and promote the circulation of cryptocurrencies.
Its cryptocurrency is named Vayron (VAR), which is a key component to this utopian society. It is based on the Ethereum blockchain, which aims to power its economy.
VAR may be used to pay for registered businesses, residences and virtual residency. Major utilities provided by Blue Frontiers, such as electricity, cable TV services, and health services can also be paid for with VAR.
“Due to global warming, the French Polynesian government is worried that they may lose one-third of the island by the end of the century. Kiribati that is located beside may face the danger of complete submergence.”
Athalie Mezza-Garcia said in an interview with the Daily Mail: “The residents of the island will not be affected by political fluctuations and trade issues, and victims of weather change shall be resettled.”
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