Bitnation, or crypto nation, was a

cryptocurrency A cryptocurrency (colloquially crypto) is a digital currency designed to work through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it. Individual coin ownership record ...

-based project self-described as a "voluntary nation", wherein all citizens chose to be citizens, founded in 2014 by Susanne Tarkowski Tempelhof. A part of the process for becoming a citizen involved recording vital records, identity, and other legal events through the use of a

smart contract A smart contract is a computer program or a Transaction Protocol Data Unit, transaction protocol that is intended to automatically execute, control or document events and actions according to the terms of a contract or an agreement. The objective ...

on the

Ethereum Ethereum is a decentralized blockchain with smart contract functionality. Ether (abbreviation: ETH) is the native cryptocurrency of the platform. Among cryptocurrencies, ether is second only to bitcoin in market capitalization. It is open-s ...

blockchain The blockchain is a distributed ledger with growing lists of Record (computer science), records (''blocks'') that are securely linked together via Cryptographic hash function, cryptographic hashes. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of th ...

. As of August 2022, the bitnation.co domain name had been sold, and the project is considered defunct.

History

Bitnation founder Susanne Tarkowski Tempelhof grew up in a Franco-Swedish family where her father had been stateless for a decade. She was inspired by

technology, and Bitcoin inspired her to extend it into

education Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...

and

national security National security, or national defence (national defense in American English), is the security and Defence (military), defence of a sovereign state, including its Citizenship, citizens, economy, and institutions, which is regarded as a duty of ...

, which gradually evolved into the backbone concepts of the modern

startup company A startup or start-up is a company or project undertaken by an Entrepreneurship, entrepreneur to seek, develop, and validate a scalable business model. While entrepreneurship includes all new businesses including self-employment and businesses tha ...

Bitnation. Bitnation was founded on 14 July 2014 by Tempelhof.

Media

Bitnation was the subject of a ''Vice'' piece in September 2016 wherein the author noted that "because a nation is as much an ideological concept as it is a legal one, one strength of Bitnation lies in its ability to give agency to groups who have been ignored or repressed by modern nation-states." ''The Atlantic'' noted in February 2018 that "Bitnation sproposing a 'peer-to-peer voluntary governance system' to replace the arbitrariness of birth as the decider of one’s citizenship. Blockchain governance could allow for the creation of virtual citizenship and autonomous communities distinct from territorial nation-states." Bitnation also received notable coverage in ''The Economist'' and ''The Wall Street Journal'' for its experimental work using blockchain technology to solve the migrant crisis.

Awards and accolades

In April 2017, Bitnation's BRER (Bitnation Refugee Emergency Response) programme was one of those awarded by the Grand Prix 2017, an annual Netexplo Forum prize co-organized by

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

References

Bibliographies

*The Googlement: A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Starting Your Own Nation (and Changing the World) (2014), Susanne Tarkowski Tempelhof, Nortia Press (English) *Swarmwise (14 February 2013),

Rick Falkvinge Rick Falkvinge (born Dick Greger Augustsson, 21 January 1972) is a Swedish politician who founded the Pirate Party, serving as its leader until 2011. Early life and career Falkvinge grew up in Ruddalen, Gothenburg, and studied Natural Scie ...

, Chapter 1–6, English, online journal

External links

* * * {{Micronations Micronations Internet properties established in 2014 Swiss companies established in 2014 Swiss websites Identity documents Blockchain entities Bitcoin Fictional countries Fictional organizations