Liberland: Winning fans from the White House to UK Parliament

"We are issuing a complete ecosystem of how to run a country and everything in it," explains Vít Jedlička, the country's founder and president of Liberland, which is growing a big following through its innovative use of the blockchain and spirit of personal and economic freedom.

For those who have never heard of it, Liberland 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.

Currently there are about 1,000 citizens, while more than 780,000 have now applied for citizenship. And with 20 billionaires among the existing citizens, Liberland could claim to be the richest nation per capita on the planet. But you don’t need to be uber rich to become a citizen – you can become one just by staying one week in Liberland.

“You can join this kind of prestigious club of 1,000-plus people. That's what is sexy about it. Right now, we've got this great opportunity that people can just also become citizens by jumping down and helping us physically with the development of the country.”

White House visit

Jedlička and a delegation of more than 10 people from Liberland were invited to the White House in January by Donald Trump. “That was kind of exciting to see that Liberland was probably the most represented the European country during the inauguration.”

Other nations are keen to see how Liberland has adopted the blockchain as its "operating system", cutting out the need for government employees, officials, and even judges. From buying property to setting up a company, it is disrupting traditional processes and procedures.

At the heart of Liberland's operations is its blockchain-based governance system, which Jedlička says is 95% complete. Unlike traditional government structures, Liberland aims to automate much of the bureaucracy through smart contracts and decentralized decision-making.

"Nobody needs to put a stamp on the transfer of a parcel or piece of land in Liberland. Nobody needs to approve share distribution. Everything is done completely automatically."

This streamlined approach extends to Liberland's justice system as well. The nation is experimenting with using AI for initial dispute resolution, potentially reducing the need for human judges by up to 80%. "You can really get rid of almost all the bureaucrats in the system if you implement the right system of governance”.

Liberland has two cryptocurrencies, the Liberland dollar (LLD) and the Liberland merit (LLM). Recently LLD saw a 1,000% surge in price, after news of a national memecoin in the Central African Congress broke. Any coins connected to governments saw massive interest and buying activity.

"People are becoming tired of memes and they want to switch to something fundamental or something meaningful. And that's where Liberland steps into place," Jedlička says.