The nation-state model is eroding and losing relevance, according to Jarrad Hope, author of “Farewell to Westphalia: Crypto Sovereignty and Post-Nation-State Governance” and co-founder of Logos, a project developing blockchain tools and decentralized digital infrastructure for network states, sovereign communities that exist in cyberspace.

“Modern nation-states are nearly 380 years old, predating even the scientific discovery of oxygen and gravity,” Hope told Cointelegraph, adding that the internet and blockchain present new tools for organizing society that allow people to build across geographies.

These tools include inflation-resistant decentralized digital currencies, immutable ledgers for tamper-free records, smart contract platforms for automated financial and legal agreements, privacy-preserving protocols, and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs) for transparent community governance. Hope added: 

“Traditional governance asks you to trust unelected bureaucrats, unfamiliar people, and opaque processes. Blockchain-enabled communities, by contrast, lean on transparent infrastructure that narrows the domain of trust.”

He also said that the biggest obstacle network states face is resistance from established nation-states and institutions, including multinational corporations, and pointed to the UK Online Safety Act as an example of centralized control over digital infrastructure.

The slow emergence of network states is a popular topic in the crypto community, built on the core ideals of decentralization, transparency, equal access, immutability, and the right to privacy, central to the cypherpunk ethos at the heart of cryptocurrencies.

Related: The EU’s two-tier encryption vision is digital feudalism

Network states are being attempted, but they need more than blockchain to stay afloat

Several attempts have been made to establish a network state or form micronations that declare independence, including Bitnation in 2014, a project that attempted to create a borderless, blockchain-based state.

However, none of these efforts has yielded a successful and autonomous network state that functions as a sovereign nation in cyberspace.

Hope, other blockchain experts, and crypto industry executives tell Cointelegraph that established nation-states will attempt to undermine emerging network states as they develop.

These established states can use regulations, litigation, or military force to prevent rising competition from an alternative organizational model, industry executives say.

Magazine: Why are crypto fans obsessed with micronations and seasteading?