What is The Network State
The Network State is a network of tech and crypto cities, colonies and zones across the United States, Latin America, Africa and other parts of the world, financed by tech billionaires and venture capitalists.
The Network State is a large-scale political and development project allowing venture capitalists to acquire land, build infrastructure, establish sovereignty and operate as a distributed world power.
The Network State exploits Special Economic Zones (SEZs), areas that exist within a country but under separate laws, forming "states within states". The progress of the Network State is often minimized in the press, but its growth to date, and the scope of its projects, are alarming; the Network State already possesses key frameworks and infrastructure of a sovereign state.
There are many Network State sites in progress: in Honduras, Argentina, Nigeria, Palau, the Philippines, as well as California and Texas in the United States. Greenland is a key target — Network State leaders are trying to buy it. The Network State has also looked at Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Greece, Montenegro and others as potential host countries. The Network State is touring the world for target sites.
The Network State already has a significant land footprint, residential and office structures, schools, full-time residents, citizenship programs, a crypto economy, the participation of hundreds of startups, its own legal and regulatory frameworks, and its own medical facilities conducting unregulated human experiments.
The main financier of the Network State is a venture capital firm called Pronomos Capital, connected to the PayPal Mafia and Andreessen Horowitz. It is backed by Peter Thiel, Marc Andreessen, Joe Lonsdale, Patri Friedman and Balaji Srinivasan. Sam Altman and the Winklevoss twins are investors in the Network State of Praxis.
Network State Development
The most advanced Network State location is in Honduras, on the island of Roatán, where the Network State has established the colony Próspera. Próspera has full-time residents, multiple buildings, a Bitcoin school, and clinics performing unregulated human medical experiments. Honduras is fighting to expel the Network State as a threat to its sovereignty and people; Próspera has retaliated by suing the country for $11 billion, ⅔ of its annual budget.
In 2024, Próspera announced Próspera Africa to build new Network State sites on the continent. Another Network State site is Itana, in Nigeria, where indigenous people have been displaced for the special economic zone. The Network State project Afropolitan also plans to have locations in Africa and eventually around the world.
With the election of Trump -- backed by Network State venture capitalists -- there has been serious movement on development of the Network State within the United States. OpenAI has announced “AI economic zones”, and Elon Musk has announced that SpaceX will incorporate a new city in Texas. Trump’s “freedom cities” -- another term for tech elite Network States -- are taking major steps forward. According to Wired: "the goal of these cities would be to have places where anti-aging clinical trials, nuclear reactor startups, and building construction can proceed without having to get prior approval from agencies like the Food and Drug Administration, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the Environmental Protection Agency."
In Solano County, California, a cartel of venture capitalists associated with Andreessen Horowitz bought up over 65,000 acres of rich, fertile farmland using secretive and threatening methodologies, including suing local farmers. They plan to build a city there with weapons development and manufacturing, aerospace and robotics companies, shipbuilding, homes and schools. This Network State site is called California Forever. Also in California, there has been discussion by Network State operatives of taking over the Presidio in San Francisco, and there is a Network State planned in Sonoma County; its founder is a "former" Pronomos Capital venture capitalist.
Network State operatives are involved in efforts to buy Greenland, making a trip in 2023 in an attempt to purchase the territory. Greenland is looked at as a potential site for the Network State Praxis. Praxis is funded by Pronomos Capital, Sam Altman, Joe Lonsdale, the Winklevoss twins, Balaji Srinivasan and other top crypto VCs. The website openly states they are building a new nation and "sovereign network" to "reclaim the west". It has images and video of its flag, while claiming to be “The Next America.” Its CEO, Dryden Brown, has been associated with esoteric fascism. Slick marketing, visibility, fundraising and the high-level staffing of Praxis, points to it being a cornerstone of the Network State.
As Network State projects begin to scale, significant construction projects emerge. In Próspera, at least one worker has died constructing a 14-story structure; though the rest of the island is limited to far fewer stories, Próspera evades local code due to its status as a special economic zone -- even though Honduras has declared the SEZ unconstitutional. Próspera's construction plans to bring in 38,000 new residents from the tech and crypto class; the island currently has a population of about 80,000. This influx of wealthy members of the tech class, if allowed to proceed, will profoundly re-shape this sovereign island and threatens Afro-Indigenous people.
Two Network State financiers, Sam Altman and Marc Andreessen, have served on an advisory board for NEOM, the "futuristic" new "mega city" project in Saudi Arabia and part of the Saudi Vision 2030 project; 21,000 workers have been killed and 20,000 indigenous people displaced so far. NEOM shows a model for Network State sites, implicating large-scale human rights abuses for the enrichment of investors. The Network State is a mechanism for colonialism, worker exploitation, harvesting of natural resources, forced cryptocurrency adoption, and large-scale tech projects like AI data centers and tech/crypto cities.
There are additional Network State projects unfolding in the Philippines, Palau and Argentina, where tech fascists have close political relationships. Additionally, several major crypto projects have announced they are building their own Network States, including Solana, Cardano and Remilia. In these cases, crypto communities and crypto capital form the basis of the Network State project. There is also a Network State school in Forest City, Malaysia. The current status of various Network State projects can be found here.
Ideology
The canonical text on the Network State is by Balaji Srinivasan, former partner at Andreessen Horowitz and former CTO of Andreessen Horowitz crypto behemoth Coinbase. The Network State was published in 2022. The book has become the catalyst for significant organizing and funding, with conferences held in Amsterdam in October 2023 and in Singapore in September 2024.
From the book:
"A network state is a social network with a moral innovation, a sense of national consciousness, a recognized founder, a capacity for collective action, an in-person level of civility, an integrated cryptocurrency, a consensual government limited by a social smart contract, an archipelago of crowdfunded physical territories, a virtual capital, and an on-chain census that proves a large enough population, income, and real-estate footprint to attain a measure of diplomatic recognition."
The biggest goal of the Network State is to gain diplomatic recognition as a sovereign. This is clearly stated in Network State materials, where the 7th and final step of the Network State, referred to as “the main event” is:
“Gain diplomatic recognition. A startup society with sufficient scale should eventually be able to negotiate for diplomatic recognition from at least one pre-existing government, and from there gradually increased sovereignty, slowly becoming a true network state… As the population and economy of a startup society grow comparable to that of a legacy state, with millions of citizens and billions in income, it should eventually be able to attain recognition from existing sovereigns — and ultimately the United Nations.”
Sovereignty – the ability to escape the control, regulation and influence of the rest of the world, to form a technological superpower – is the primary goal.
Israel is cited repeatedly as an inspiration for the Network State, stating “Herzl’s work is a major inspiration” and referring to the desired venture capital state as a “distributed Zion”. The Network State book finds a kindred spirit to the violent establishment of their own state, praising Israel’s achievements: “Their status as a nation state changed with time. The Jewish people were once a stateless nation, a diaspora group united by common ancestry and tradition without a land or government to call their own. Then, within living memory, they founded the state of Israel.” The same money behind the Network State (Andreessen Horowitz, Founders Fund) is also building a massive arsenal of weapons startups, many of which are confirmed in use in the genocide in Gaza.
Functions of the Network State
The Network State serves key functions for venture capitalists:
Escape from regulations: Venture capitalists are massive investors in a number of "frontier" startups in crypto, weapons development and biotech. Regulations are a massive hurdle to them, requiring them to navigate costly and time-consuming processes. Escape from regulation is a key tenet of their accelerationist ideology -- the unchecked, rapid development of venture-backed technologies. The Network State allows them to escape nation-state control and influence so they can develop risky technologies with no oversight.
Exploiting new markets for cryptocurrency adoption. The CEO of Coinbase, an Andreessen Horowitz company, has stated "Crypto's destiny is to help create physical territories (special economic zones) in the world where freedom is preserved. This process has already begun." Latin America and Africa, key targets of the Network State, are massive markets for cryptocurrency. The Network State puts venture capitalists in key new markets and establishes relationships with foreign heads of state that can be used to install cryptocurrency, as we see with "Bitcoin Country" El Salvador.
Creation of medical experimentation zones. Human medical experiments are a key motivator of Network State development, appearing over and over in Network State materials. Venture capitalists have thousands of biotech companies that face regulatory hurdles from the FDA and other bodies. The Network State book describes the creation of "the FDA-free society" and argues for “the absolute right for anyone to buy or sell any medical product without third party interference.” Attaining zones where there is no regulation on medical experiments is a key accelerant of venture capital portfolios, with significant implications for human rights and medical ethics. The medical community of Honduras has demanded that Próspera shut down its unethical human experiments, but has no enforcement power over Próspera despite its location on Honduran soil. This is the modus operandi of the Network State.
Escape from taxation. By operating out of special economic zones with self-determined tax codes, venture capitalists and their companies are able to escape taxes on their significant wealth and plundering. Moreover, their relations with fascist heads of state like Milei in Argentina and Bukele in El Salvador provide them with numerous tax and investment perks.
Network States as investment product. With the Network State, the creation of new colonies and tech/crypto cities are investment products in themselves, attracting global capital and eventually generating revenues and returns. Cities are sources of capital accumulation and represent a new, expansive investment product to venture capitalists and their partners.
Maneuvering great power conflict with China. The Network State is a form of counter / competitor to China's Belt and Road initiative, particularly the build out of infrastructure in Latin America and across Africa. Through the Network State, tech venture capitalists are able to set up strongholds in key sites of cold war with China across the global south, establishing colonies, extracting resources, building infrastructure and competing for favorable agreements with nation-states.
Access to ports. In Honduras, the Network State of Próspera has a mainland port site "to ensure access to essential goods and remove China as a potentially critical point of failure." The Network State project Metropolis operates in the Freeport Area of Bataan in the Philippines. California Forever, the Network State in California, is proposing a shipbuilding hub.
Presence in strategic military locations. The venture capitalists behind the Network State are significant investors in a new era of autonomous weapons systems and are key actors in aggravating geopolitical tension with China. Existing and proposed Network States are in sites of strategic military significance. California Forever is located near an Air Force Base and advertises "Protecting and strengthening Travis Air Force Base." The Network State project Metropolis also operates out of Palau, a strategic maritime military location in tensions between the US and China.
Ultimately, the Network State means that venture capital will rise as a sovereign global power.