All filler, no pillar: Why blockchain cities fail

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The blockchain manufacture has agelong strived to physique its “city connected a hill” — idealistic communities wherever blockchain provides a instauration and codification is law. But they’ve not ever panned out, arsenic regulations, unrealistic expectations and different factors often marque them dormant connected arrival.

For respective years, idealistic, would-be founders person strived to physique communities connected blockchain. Some of these projects person been much grounded, utilizing blockchain arsenic a means of onshore registry, portion others sought to physique full cities that would tally solely connected blockchain and crypto.

One of the astir caller — and possibly arguable — examples is US President Donald Trump’s alleged program to physique a “Gaza Riviera” successful the embattled territory that would incorporated a token into its fundraising and spot concern model.

MS Satoshi Bitcoin cruise flounders amid maritime regulations

Eccentrics person agelong sought a freer beingness astatine sea, from pirates to French histrion Gérard Depardieu and Scientology laminitis L. Ron Hubbard. In October 2020, 3 Bitcoin (BTC) idealists — Grant Romundt, Rüdiger Koch and Chad Elwartowski — bought a 245-meter cruise vessel called Pacific Dawn for $9.5 million, with the purpose of converting it to a Bitcoin metropolis parked disconnected the seashore of Panama.

The vessel was expected to supply an inclusive assemblage for integer nomads and Bitcoin adopters that combined crypto enthusiasts with the “seasteading” question — a run calved among tech executives, which insisted that the adjacent measurement successful quality improvement was to marque communities surviving unneurotic connected the precocious seas.

The erstwhile cruise liner boasted restaurants, pools, cafes and a gym. Residents would beryllium allowed to excavation crypto and behaviour their affairs without troublesome authorities regulators. Bitcoin was to beryllium accepted aboard the vessel for immoderate goods and services.

Unfortunately for the founders, capitalist involvement was insufficient to screen the costs. Fuel unsocial was costing them $12,000 per day, and the COVID-19 pandemic presented logistical obstacles that they could not overcome. Furthermore, cruise ships are taxable to immoderate of the tightest maritime regulations connected earth, a origin the founders failed to consider.

“We were like, ‘This is conscionable truthful hard,’” Romundt told The Guardian.

By December 2020, the owners sold the MS Satoshi.

Trump’s “Gaza Riviera” wants to tokenize displacement

On Aug. 31, the Washington Post reported that the Trump medication was forming a plan, dubbed the Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation Trust, to make the Gaza Strip nether an American custodianship.

The 38-page papers outlining the administration’s imaginativeness proposes a fig of high-tech ideas that would supposedly stimulate the system of the Gaza Strip, whose residents are victims of famine and repeated Israeli airstrikes.

Amid proposals for a deep-sea port, a “Trump touristic riviera” and physics conveyance manufacturing zones, the prospectus suggests a “voluntary” programme for Palestinians who connection their onshore to the trust. The token could beryllium redeemed for relocation elsewhere oregon for a residence successful 1 of 8 “smart cities” planned successful Gaza.

The program has yet to determination forward. UN experts person claimed that the trust, which was developed by the Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), serves arsenic screen for “covert subject and geopolitical agendas successful superior breach of planetary law.”

Liberland: A Libertarian micronation connected the Danube

In 2015, Czech right-wing libertarian person Vít Jedlička claimed an uninhabited agelong of floodplain connected the Danube River betwixt Croatia and Serbia.

An unusual operation of authorities and engineering, successful which the people of the Danube changed successful the 19th century, near the seven-square-kilometer parcel of onshore unclaimed by either nation. Jedlička believed that helium should beryllium capable to signifier a state determination nether the rule of terra nullius and founded the Free Republic of Liberland arsenic its archetypal president.

The task caught the attraction of crypto enthusiasts arsenic the micronation issues its ain cryptocurrency, the Liberland Dollar (LLD), and promised a laissez-faire, minimalist attack to governance. On Sept. 2, 2025, the token became disposable connected crypto trading level Alchemy Pay.

While neither Croatia nor Serbia claims the territory, neither supports the radical of crypto libertarians. The founders, property and activists person had aggregate run-ins with constabulary portion trying to transverse the Croatian border.

Magazine: Breaking into Liberland: Dodging guards with inner-tubes, decoys and diplomats

After aggregate attempts to marque landfall and run-ins with the Croatian police, Jedlička was banned from entering the state for 5 years owed to “extremist” activities.

CityDAO, Wyoming: Crypto goes West

Cryptocurrencies and involvement astir blockchain exertion surged amid the COVID-19 situation successful 2020-2021, starring respective states successful the US, including Wyoming, to marque laws for decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). In April 2021, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon signed a measure recognizing DAOs arsenic ineligible entities.

The instrumentality went into effect connected July 1, 2021. That aforesaid day, bundle technologist Scott Fitsimones posted:

The task aimed to beryllium that DAOs could acquisition and negociate land, streamline municipal decision-making and governance and resoluteness conflicts.

Within a month, the task had secured implicit $250,000 done the merchantability of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) called “Citizen NFTs.” Purchases from influential, pro-crypto entrepreneurs similar billionaire “Shark Tank” capitalist Mark Cuban and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong helped substance interest.

By October of that year, much than 5,000 radical from astir the satellite had contributed a sum of $8 cardinal to bargain 40 acres of onshore successful Wymoning and begin “building the metropolis of the aboriginal connected the Ethereum blockchain.”

But the assemblage ran into immoderate challenges, namely, astir members believed that “Parcel 0,” the crippled of onshore they purchased, should beryllium utilized “primarily for conservation and wildlife.”

A January 2022 hack successful which fraudsters netted $95,000 done a fake “land drop” successful the project’s Discord soured galore connected the project’s prospects.

The task was further constricted by zoning laws. Even if the DAO had decided to usage the task for thing different than conservation, Wyoming residential zoning laws bounds the 40-acre crippled to conscionable one, single-family home.

CityDAO whitethorn person succeeded successful forming a ineligible entity, which was a archetypal for a DAO, but it inactive fell abbreviated of the utopian extremity of the metropolis connected the hill.

Akon City hits a atrocious enactment successful Senegal

One of the highest-profile crypto metropolis projects is Akon City, the brainchild of Senegalese-American vocalist Akon.

Akon announced his intent to motorboat the “Akoin” cryptocurrency successful 2018. Initially pitched arsenic a coin to enactment African creatives and entrepreneurs, Akon announced successful 2020 that it would underpin his futuristic and self-titled “Akon City” task successful Senegal.

Akon had secured 2,000 acres from the Senegalese authorities to enactment his eye-watering $6-billion astute metropolis project, wherever Akoin would supply the means of outgo for residents and visitors.

By 2029, the metropolis was expected to boast a modern hospital, bureau parks, a assemblage and upscale residences, each wrong futuristic-looking skyscrapers on the Senegalese coast.

However, it hardly got disconnected the ground. The COVID-19 pandemic stalled construction, and by 2024, lone the invited halfway was partially complete.

By August 2024, Akoin’s terms had wholly collapsed. The Senegalese authorities demanded that Akon either commencement operation oregon instrumentality the onshore granted to him. As of July 2025, the task was officially abandoned.

Blockchains LLC’s crypto metropolis goes adust successful Nevada

In February 2021, blockchain incubator and concern steadfast Blockchains LLC set retired connected an ambitious project to physique a blockchain city. The institution purchased implicit 67,000 acres of onshore for $170 cardinal successful the Nevada godforsaken successful Storey County, which it intended to crook into homes and concern parks.

CEO Jeffrey Berns envisioned a metropolis wherever residents would wage for goods and services successful cryptocurrency. All information, including tax, aesculapian and employment records, would beryllium recorded onchain.

The institution aimed to interruption crushed successful 2022, starting with the operation of 15,000 homes and 3 cardinal quadrate meters of commercialized and concern space.

However, the project’s projected h2o root would person required a 100-mile pipeline. Kyle Roerink, enforcement manager of the Great Basin Water Network, said determination would beryllium “a batch of rights-of-way connected national lands successful summation to those tribal considerations ... It would beryllium a precise agelong process, apt with a batch of litigation involved.”

Another occupation was that Bern’s program hinged connected his tendency to alteration Nevada instrumentality and make “innovation zones,” which would fundamentally let companies to run similar a region government, including levying taxes, creating courts and making onshore and h2o usage decisions.

Lawmakers and the wide nationalist were not enthused with the plan. Critics claimed that the “innovation zones” would fundamentally beryllium company towns. Berns said that the connection failed to summation traction successful the authorities legislature, and “one of the biggest problems the projected authorities encountered was it appeared to person nary champion.”

Success story: Liberstad, Norway’s anarchist commune

In 2015, John Holmesland and Sondre Bjellås founded the assemblage Liberstad and began processing the spot successful March 2017. They’d purchased the onshore done donations to the Liberstad Drift Association. It was officially established the pursuing June.

The project, which is founded connected anarchist, voluntaryist principles, says it is “compelled to embark connected the travel of creating a caller and improved nine that champions bid and liberty.”

The Liberstad complex, which is located not acold from Kristiansand successful confederate Norway, consists of 150 hectares of onshore that hosts visitors and residents arsenic it tries to turn its scope.

The archetypal onshore plots for Liberstad were purchased with Bitcoin, and the “city’s” sole mean of monetary speech is City Coin (CITY), which it adopted successful 2019.

Liberstad really owns and operates land, boasts imperishable residents and has developed proprietary blockchain exertion for its economy. It whitethorn beryllium small, but compared to the others, it’s a resounding success.