Free-floating money gets a ride on a free and floating colony.
Two hardcore libertarian projects have joined forces in what might be the start of a new economy that’s outside the normal reach of national governments. Or it could just be the sharp poke in the eye that provokes a potentially fatal response from authorities.
BitAngels, a startup fund fueled by Bitcoins, is putting the equivalent of $100,000 into Blueseed, which proposes to moor a cruise ship twelve miles off the Northern California coast, just outside of U.S. territorial waters. It would be the first step in creating a floating incubator and home for companies and people that want to be within a ferry ride of Silicon Valley but can’t (or won’t) get work visas from the U.S. government. They would do their jobs in international waters, and come ashore as needed using easier-to-obtain business and tourist visas.
According to the CoinDesk blog…
“The Bitcoin community is clearly the most aligned with Blueseed’s mindset (do-it-yourself currency/DIY jurisdiction),” said Dan Dascalescu, CIO and CTO for the seafaring company. “The link between Bitcoin and Blueseed is that they are both practical, radical solutions to problems to governance, achieved in an entrepreneurial way.”
Bitcoin has already started attracting unwanted and unhelpful attention from financial authorities, who seem to consider it just another form of money laundering. It’s “an open source P2P digital currency” that allows people to carry out transactions with complete anonymity and without touching the international banking system.
Establishing a peer-to-peer Bitcoin node or currency exchange at the Blueseed seastead would not put it completely beyond national regulational or law enforcement. Blueseed plans to begin operations using the MS Island Escape, which currently flies a Bahamian flag. And the U.S. government is not in the least bit shy about flexing its muscles where ever it thinks a U.S. law has been broken. But if they can pull it off, it would be a big step away from national authority and towards a new form of personal sovereignty.