Chad Elwartowski, an American software engineer turned Bitcoin trader, is one of the leading lights of the "seasteading" movementa libertarian drive to build independent floating cities on the high seas. Right now, he's constructing a prototype for the worlds first 3D-printed, smart, floating home, off the Caribbean coast of Panama. A prior effort, in Thailand, was towed off by the Thai navy in 2019.
Interest in seasteading is enjoying a renaissance among libertarian, tech millionaires, keen to escape the threat of increasing government surveillance. The movement has come a long way since entrepreneurs Peter Thiel and Patri Friedman (grandson of eminent economist Milton) launched the Seasteading Institute in 2008.
Coronavirus is an opportunity to show the world that what were building is actually going to be very useful in the future, said Elwartowski, in a recent video update on his project.
But Elwartowskis vision has changed since his first attempt at seasteading in Thailand, when he and his Thai partner Supranee Thepdet were forced to flee, dodging Thai patrol boats. He was tipped off that the authorities had determined that the fiberglass cabin, on top of a floating pole, posed a threat to the country's sovereigntypunishable by death.
Now, theyve settled in Panama and joined a local business called Ocean Builders, which is creating 30 "seapods," and selling them on the open market for between $200,000 to $800,000 each. The pods will be registered as boats under the Panama flag for legal purposes.
Its somewhat ironic that staunch libertarians are now asking for government permission to complete their utopian dreams. But the fact is that attempts, over the years, to set up floating societies have flounderedeven those sanctioned by national governments.
In 2017, the French Polynesian government approved the Seasteading Institutes plans for an autonomous community near the French Polynesian coast, using a cryptocurrency called Varyon. However, the authorities rescinded its approval a year later, in response to objections of tech colonialism by the residents of Tahiti, the nearest well-populated island in the archipelago.
Friedman is now involved in the Marshall Islands scheme to introduce a sovereign digital currency. He said recently that, in the past month, he is seeing a lot of inquiries from peers who want to know wheres best to move.
He and Thiel have moved on to self-governed "charter cities" in developing countries, allowing international firms to set up shop in the semi-autonomous zones. The project takes the form of a venture fund, bolstered by $9 million in funding from Thiel, as well as investors and Bitcoin heavyweights Marc Andreessen, Roger Ver, and Balaji Srinivasan.
Seasteaders have found out it is probably better to make an agreement with the government, said Titus Gebel, CEO of Tipolis, another startup developing semi-autonomous cities run by private companies.
It may not be the original libertarian dream but it'll do for now.
Original post:
This libertarian Bitcoin trader wants to build a city on the sea - Decrypt
- Seasteading Book - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Erwin Strauss - How to Start Your Own Country - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- David D. Friedman - Legal Systems Very Different From Ours - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- it's always ourselves we find in the sea - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- New Faces Mean New Developments at TSI - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- New Residential Cruise Ship - Samsung signs $1.1B LOI with Utopia Residences - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Sean Hastings - Experiences with HavenCo and SeaLand - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Ibsen on the sea - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Jim O'Neill - Health Innovation at the Frontier - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- The Seasteading Institute December 2009 Newsletter - December 13th, 2009 [December 13th, 2009]
- Russ George: Ocean Stewardship - December 22nd, 2009 [December 22nd, 2009]
- Eelco Hoogendoorn: Seastead Engineering Overview - December 29th, 2009 [December 29th, 2009]
- Happy 2009 From The Seasteading Institute! - December 29th, 2009 [December 29th, 2009]
- Mikolaj Habryn: Residential Shipsteading - December 31st, 2009 [December 31st, 2009]
- M.U.L.E. - steading - January 13th, 2010 [January 13th, 2010]
- Ephemerisle Documentary - January 13th, 2010 [January 13th, 2010]
- Jorge Schmidt - Legal Aspects of Seasteading - January 13th, 2010 [January 13th, 2010]
- James is ready to move! - January 19th, 2010 [January 19th, 2010]
- Seasteading is the cure for post-Avatar Depression? - January 23rd, 2010 [January 23rd, 2010]
- Dominique Roddier - Clubstead Engineering - January 26th, 2010 [January 26th, 2010]
- Engineering Parallels Between Ephemerisle & Seasteading - January 29th, 2010 [January 29th, 2010]
- Will Chamberlain - Thinking Structurally About Government - January 29th, 2010 [January 29th, 2010]
- Nice EEZ layer for Google Earth - February 2nd, 2010 [February 2nd, 2010]
- Na'ama Moran - Medical Tourism on Ships - February 5th, 2010 [February 5th, 2010]
- The Seasteading Institute February 2010 Newsletter - February 6th, 2010 [February 6th, 2010]
- Seoul, South Korea, Launches Floating Island - February 14th, 2010 [February 14th, 2010]
- Research Update: TSI Engineering Assessment Report (part 1) released - March 2nd, 2010 [March 2nd, 2010]
- Countries & Cruise Ships - March 5th, 2010 [March 5th, 2010]
- Viver no Mar (Living in the Sea) - March 5th, 2010 [March 5th, 2010]
- The Seasteading Institute March 2010 Newsletter - March 12th, 2010 [March 12th, 2010]
- WindWard Looks Seaward: Incremental Developments in Energy and Community - March 18th, 2010 [March 18th, 2010]
- Fun with Google Earth - March 18th, 2010 [March 18th, 2010]
- Website Downtime - March 23rd, 2010 [March 23rd, 2010]
- The Plastiki Sets Sail to Glorify Waste - March 23rd, 2010 [March 23rd, 2010]
- Internships at TSI - March 26th, 2010 [March 26th, 2010]
- Patri Friedman Appears on Freakonomics Podcast - March 31st, 2010 [March 31st, 2010]
- Seasteading R&D Company Looking For Investors - April 2nd, 2010 [April 2nd, 2010]
- The Seasteading Institute April 2010 Newsletter - April 8th, 2010 [April 8th, 2010]
- Pioneering Undersea Life in Legoland? - April 10th, 2010 [April 10th, 2010]
- TSI Argonauts: Benefits for Leading the Way - April 22nd, 2010 [April 22nd, 2010]
- Freedom in Brazil - April 22nd, 2010 [April 22nd, 2010]
- Francesca Galea Improves Understanding of the Legal Standing of Artificial Islands - April 28th, 2010 [April 28th, 2010]
- How Ephemerisle 2010 Will Bring Us Closer to Seasteading - May 4th, 2010 [May 4th, 2010]
- Learn Something New About the Ocean - May 12th, 2010 [May 12th, 2010]
- Ephemerisle 2010 tickets now on sale! - May 12th, 2010 [May 12th, 2010]
- The Seasteading Institute May 2010 Newsletter - May 14th, 2010 [May 14th, 2010]
- Let Freedom Ring! Reception and Conversation on June 9th, 2010 - May 22nd, 2010 [May 22nd, 2010]
- Container Cities - May 28th, 2010 [May 28th, 2010]
- Recommended Reading for The Seastead View Of Politics - May 28th, 2010 [May 28th, 2010]
- Recycling the gyre - May 31st, 2010 [May 31st, 2010]
- Sorry for the downtime! - June 8th, 2010 [June 8th, 2010]
- Ephemerisle: A Floating Festival of Freedom on Humanity's Next Frontier, July 22-25 - June 10th, 2010 [June 10th, 2010]
- Ephemerisle: Evolving Society on Humanity's Next Frontier, July 22-25 - June 10th, 2010 [June 10th, 2010]
- Ephemerisle 2010 Cancellation - June 20th, 2010 [June 20th, 2010]
- Secession Week 2010 at Let A Thousand Nations Bloom - June 30th, 2010 [June 30th, 2010]
- The Seasteading Institute July 2010 Newsletter - July 9th, 2010 [July 9th, 2010]
- Latest Seasteading Talk Video: Mises Brazil - July 13th, 2010 [July 13th, 2010]
- It's The Love Boat...For Ideas: Reason/TSI cruise - July 13th, 2010 [July 13th, 2010]
- Sink or Swim 2010 Business Contest - July 13th, 2010 [July 13th, 2010]
- Ideas wanted: Seasteading Book PR - July 15th, 2010 [July 15th, 2010]
- Seasteaders to attend the 2010 Singularity Summit - July 27th, 2010 [July 27th, 2010]
- TSI August 2010 Newsletter - August 4th, 2010 [August 4th, 2010]
- Short video from UCSD - August 13th, 2010 [August 13th, 2010]
- Documentary on micronations, featuring seasteading, premiering 9/11 at Toronto Film Festival - August 17th, 2010 [August 17th, 2010]
- TSI Welcomes its New Director of Engineering, George Petrie - October 17th, 2010 [October 17th, 2010]
- TSI seeks Oceanography Researcher - up to $500 referral bonus - October 17th, 2010 [October 17th, 2010]
- Answers to some basic seasteading questions about strategy - October 17th, 2010 [October 17th, 2010]
- Patri Says: Help Us Create A Compelling Book Proposal! - October 17th, 2010 [October 17th, 2010]
- TSI September 2010 Newsletter - October 17th, 2010 [October 17th, 2010]
- Judges Selected for TSI's Sink or Swim Business Plan Contest - October 17th, 2010 [October 17th, 2010]
- TSI Doubles Sink or Swim Prize Pool & Extends Deadline by Two Weeks - October 17th, 2010 [October 17th, 2010]
- Global Wave Heatmap - October 17th, 2010 [October 17th, 2010]
- The Seasteading Institute Fall 2010 Newsletter - October 17th, 2010 [October 17th, 2010]
- Watch Patri's Talk From The Feast - October 24th, 2010 [October 24th, 2010]
- Update To Oceanographer Position - October 24th, 2010 [October 24th, 2010]
- Seasteading: An Audacious Vision of Diversity and Innovation In Law - October 24th, 2010 [October 24th, 2010]
- Review of Micronation Film Highlights Seasteading Vision - October 24th, 2010 [October 24th, 2010]
- Reminder: Active review work happening on seasteading book! - October 24th, 2010 [October 24th, 2010]
- O. Shane Balloun on American Law Enforcement Jurisdiction Over Seasteads - October 24th, 2010 [October 24th, 2010]
- How does Patri spend his time? - October 31st, 2010 [October 31st, 2010]