:Bitnation
{{short description|Digital nation}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=January 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2022}}
{{puffery|date=May 2019}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Bitnation
| logo = Bitnation logo.svg
| founded = 14 July 2014
| founder = Susanne Tarkowski Tempelhof
| hq_location = Switzerland{{r|Green-2016-02-18}}
| area_served = Worldwide
| website = {{URL|bitnation.co}}
}}
Bitnation, or crypto nation{{r|Atzori-2015-12-01|p=5}}, was a cryptocurrency-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 on the Ethereum blockchain.{{r|Lobe-2016-04-02}}{{r|Souli-2016-09-12}}
As of August 2022, the bitnation.co domain name had been sold, and the project is considered defunct.{{cite web |title=About - Bitnation |url=https://bitnation.co/about/ |website=bitnation.co |access-date=28 May 2023}}
History
Bitnation founder Susanne Tarkowski Tempelhof grew up in a Franco-Swedish family where her father had been stateless for a decade.{{r|Marty-2014-10-17}} She was inspired by blockchain technology, and Bitcoin inspired her to extend it into education and national security, which gradually evolved into the backbone concepts of the modern startup company Bitnation.{{r|Hintergründe-2016-11-28}} Bitnation was founded on 14 July 2014 by Tempelhof.{{r|Mattila-2016-05-10|p=13}}{{r|Bartlett-2016-05-24}}{{r|Vigna-2014-09-26}}
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."{{Cite news|date=12 September 2016|title=I Became a Citizen of Bitnation, a Blockchain-Powered Virtual Nation. Now What?|language=en-us|work=Motherboard|url=https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/xyg5x7/bitnation-or-bust|access-date=2018-05-16}}
The Atlantic noted in February 2018 that "Bitnation [is] proposing 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."{{Cite news|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2018/02/virtual-citizenship-for-sale/553733/|title=The Rise of Virtual Citizenship|last=Bridle|first=James|work=The Atlantic|access-date=2018-05-16|language=en-US}}
Bitnation also received notable coverage in The Economist{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/world-if/21724906-trust-business-little-noticed-huge-startups-deploying-blockchain-technology-threaten|title=Disrupting the trust business|newspaper=The Economist|language=en|access-date=2018-05-16}} and The Wall Street Journal for its experimental work using blockchain technology to solve the migrant crisis.{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/can-bitcoin-technology-solve-the-migrant-crisis-1465395474|title=Can Bitcoin Technology Solve the Migrant Crisis?|last=Warden|first=Staci|date=8 June 2016|work=Wall Street Journal|access-date=2018-05-16|language=en-US|issn=0099-9660}}
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.{{r|UNESCO-2017-05-05}}
References
{{reflist|refs =
|url = http://www.cityam.com/234843/how-blockchain-will-revolutionise-life-for-the-consumer-
|last = Green
|first = Harriet
|date = 18 February 2016
|title = Consumer's guide to blockchain: How the cryptocurrency will revolutionise life for the consumer
|trans-title = Can a state be made with cryptography?
|department = Fintech
|website = City A.M.
|language = en
|access-date = 2017-10-01
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171001074358/http://www.cityam.com/234843/how-blockchain-will-revolutionise-life-for-the-consumer-
|url-status = live
|archive-date = 1 October 2017
}}
|url = http://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/debatten/die-digital-debatte/bitcoin-statt-bargeld-und-bitnation-statt-staat-regierung-14050237-p3.html?printPagedArticle=true#pageIndex_1
|last = Lobe
|first = Adrian
|date = 2 April 2016
|title = Ist mit Kryptographie Staat zu machen?
|trans-title = Can a state be made with cryptography?
|department = Feuilleton
|website = Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
|language = de
|access-date = 2017-09-07
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180326022612/http://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/debatten/die-digital-debatte/bitcoin-statt-bargeld-und-bitnation-statt-staat-regierung-14050237-p3.html?printPagedArticle=true#pageIndex_1
|url-status = live
|archive-date = 26 March 2018
}}
{{cite SSRN
| last = Atzori
| first = Marcella
| date = 1 December 2015
| title = Blockchain technology and decentralized governance: is the state still necessary?
| language = en
|ssrn = 2709713}}
|url = https://panampost.com/belen-marty/2014/10/17/bitnation-founder-on-a-mission-for-stateless-governance/
|last = Marty
|first = Belén
|date = 17 October 2014
|title = Bitnation founder on a mission for stateless governance
|website = PanAm Post
|language = en
|access-date = 2017-09-07
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170907212554/https://panampost.com/belen-marty/2014/10/17/bitnation-founder-on-a-mission-for-stateless-governance/
|url-status = live
|archive-date = 7 September 2017
}}
|url = http://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/debatten/die-digital-debatte/bitcoin-statt-bargeld-und-bitnation-statt-staat-regierung-14050237-p3.html?printPagedArticle=true
|last = Hintergründe
|first = Nachrichten
|date = 28 November 2016
|title = Bitnation, die Zukunft der Welt? Bitnation Gründerin Susanne Tarkowski Tempelhof im Gespräch
|trans-title = Can a state be made with cryptography?
|department = RT Deutsch
|website = RT (TV network)
|language = de
|others = (video with English subtitle)
|access-date = 2017-09-26
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180326022612/http://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/debatten/die-digital-debatte/bitcoin-statt-bargeld-und-bitnation-statt-staat-regierung-14050237-p3.html?printPagedArticle=true
|url-status = live
|archive-date = 26 March 2018
}}
|url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/24/the-crypto-libertarians-using-technology-to-undermine-the-nation/
|last = Bartlett
|first = Jamie
|author-link = Jamie Bartlett (journalist)
|date = 24 May 2016
|title = The crypto-libertarians using technology to undermine the nation-state
|department = News
|work = Telegraph (London)
|language = en
|access-date = 2017-09-07
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170912065849/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/24/the-crypto-libertarians-using-technology-to-undermine-the-nation/
|url-status = live
|archive-date = 12 September 2017
}}
|url = http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/09/26/bitbeat-wedding-bells-on-the-blockchain/
|last1 = Vigna
|first1 = Paul
|last2 = J. Casey
|first2 = Michael
|date = 26 September 2014
|title = Bitbeat: Wedding Bells on the Blockchain
|department = Moneybeat
|website = The Wall Street Journal
|language = en
|access-date = 2017-09-25
|archive-url = https://archive.today/20140928192126/http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/09/26/bitbeat-wedding-bells-on-the-blockchain/
|url-status = live
|archive-date = 2014-09-28
}}
|url = https://pub.etla.fi/ETLA-Working-Papers-38.pdf
|last = Mattila
|first = Juri
|date = 10 May 2016
|title = The blockchain phenomenon: the disruptive potential of distributed consensus architectures
|website = Research Institute of the Finnish Economy (ETLA)
|others = Published simultaneously as a working paper of the Berkeley Roundtable on the International Economy (BRIE)
|series = ETLA Working Papers No. 38
|language = en
|access-date = 2017-09-17
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170918202320/https://www.etla.fi/wp-content/uploads/ETLA-Working-Papers-38.pdf
|url-status = live
|archive-date = 18 September 2017
}}
|url = https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/xyg5x7/bitnation-or-bust
|last = Souli
|first = Sarah
|date = 12 September 2016
|title = I became a citizen of Bitnation, a blockchain-powered virtual nation. Now what?
|website = Motherboard Vice
|department = Features
|language = en
|access-date = 2017-09-16
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170915160659/https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/xyg5x7/bitnation-or-bust
|url-status = live
|archive-date = 15 September 2017
}}
|url = http://en.unesco.org/news/netexplo-forum-celebrated-its-10th-edition
|date = 5 May 2017
|title = The Netexplo Forum celebrated its 10th edition
|website = UNESCO
|department = Netexplo Forum 2017
|language = en
|access-date = 2017-09-17
|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170918110531/http://en.unesco.org/news/netexplo-forum-celebrated-its-10th-edition
|url-status = live
|archive-date = 18 September 2017
}}
}}
Bibliographies
- The Googlement: A Do-It-Yourself Guide to Starting Your Own Nation (and Changing the World) (2014), Susanne Tarkowski Tempelhof, Nortia Press (English) {{ISBN|0988879859}}
- Swarmwise (14 February 2013), Rick Falkvinge, Chapter 1–6, English, online journal
External links
{{portal|Politics}}
- {{cite web|last1=Krug|first1=Joey|title=Bitnation Public Notary (BPN)|url=https://bitnation.co/notary/|website=Bitnation|accessdate=2017-09-15}}
- {{cite web|last1=Tarkowski Tempelhof|first1=Susanne|title=BITNATION: Year 1 Summary|date=16 July 2015 |url=https://medium.com/@susannetarkowskitempelhof/bitnation-year-1-summary-6a1c40b4ee5a|publisher=Medium|accessdate=2017-09-14}}
- {{cite journal|last1=Tarkowski Tempelhof|first1=Susanne|last2=M. Farrell|first2=Jason|title=Bitnation Whitepaper|date=2016|page=11|url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1r_VqWrKQw07E06XAtMv_cZnFyBZma4PFTBJpM5GuzbA/edit|accessdate=2017-09-14}}
{{Micronations}}
Category:Internet properties established in 2014