Liberland: The start-up country built on the blockchain

You may never have heard of Liberland before, but it’s a fascinating story.

It is a seven-square-kilometre territory between Croatia and Serbia, and was originally founded in 2015.

While it is a physical country, it is underpinned by technology and operates on blockchain for transparency and efficiency. Taxes are voluntary and if you contribute then you become a shareholder.

Liberland accepts various cryptocurrencies, and while it has no designated currency, Bitcoin is proving to be the dominant method of payment.

At the heart of Liberland's vision is the idea of minimizing state interference in the lives of its citizens. Vít Jedlička, the country's founder, spoke to The Crypto Radio about this bold vision.

“The idea behind it is to create a state for the freedom-loving people and utilize the best technology, namely the blockchain, to operate it.

"Our motto is 'Live and Let Live'. We believe the state shouldn't intrude into people's lives and shouldn't meddle with the economy at all,” he told us. This ethos is reflected in Liberland's approach to taxation, regulation, and governance.

The country has built its own blockchain-based system, which allows it to conduct lightning-fast and cost-effective transactions, elections, and property transfers.

Liberland's diverse network of citizens include Justin Sun, the founder of TRON, who was recently voted in as prime minister. Political tenures are short at just three months. Other prominent figures include former US Congressman Ron Paul.

“It's a very diverse group of people from all around the world. It's rich and poor, but also from all skill sets that you can think of. It's really people from all across the world coming together to form a new country, a new nation in the hearts of mountains.”

From industrial projects and tourism initiatives to housing developments, the country is steadily building both its physical and digital infrastructure. It even has one project for floating houses.

Liberland has established representative offices in over 80 countries, more than the average European nation, and recently opened an office in Dubai.

Jedlička sees the country as a "first decentralized autonomous government" and its innovative use of blockchain technology makes for a fascinating experiment in nation-building.

“The things that other states are wasting enormous resources on are very quickly solvable in Liberland.”

The founders of Liberland maintain that they have around 1,000 (digital) citizens, and awareness about this unique country is quickly growing. “We're not building it to create some sort of prison state. We're building it to expand human freedom and make it easier for people to navigate when doing their daily business. So I think that's the right way of using these technologies.”

Businesses are also interested in Liberland, and it has “a couple hundreds of companies already”.

“You actually don't need to incorporate or do anything special. After you become a resident you can start any kind of business, which I think is very important.” It also has a mobile app which allows better access to services and communication between residents.

 

Listen to the whole interview on The Crypto Radio's live player or in our Community podcast.