Bitnation, the blockchain-based Governance 2.0 initiative led by charismatic founder Susanne Tarkowski Tempelhof, released a first alpha of its Bitnation Pangea collaborative platform for DIY Governance. The release is tagged alpha 0.1.0, which makes it clear that it isn’t yet stable or full-featured. However, the roadmap is nothing short of revolutionary and could have a significant impact.
“Bitnation is a Governance 2.0 Operating System, designed to disrupt the nation-state oligopoly through offering more convenient, secure and cost-efficient governance services,” Tarkowski Tempelhof, a Swedish thinker and activist who spent years working as a contractor in various conflict zones , told Bitcoin Magazine. “As the world progressively moves away from the current geographical nation state paradigm due to globalization, it leaves room for a brand new solution to rise from its ashes, one where governance service providers compete through offering better services, rather than through maintaining a geographical monopoly using violence.”
Bitnation Pangea wants to be the world’s first blockchain powered Virtual Nation, able to provide all services that traditional governments provide and replace the nation state system with a voluntary form of governance. Bitnation’s ultimate aim is to create a new world where everyone can choose the nation they prefer, several nations, or none at all, and even create their own nation on the Bitnation platform.
“The alternative the world is currently pivoting towards is U.N.-style global organizations, which would be an even worse ‘one-fit-all’ type governance model than what we currently have,” says Tarkowski Tempelhof. “Bitnation aims to prevent that, through setting a precedent for voluntary competing service providers, powered by the Bitcoin blockchain technology, effectively creating an open source cryptonation protocol.”
The backbone of the platform consists of the ID and Reputation System (The Bitnation Passport), the Dispute Resolution System, the Public Notary and a DIY Governance (D)App Library where others can create, upload, share or sell their own Governance (D)Apps. Planned services include marriage, wills, childcare contracts, birth certificates, land titles, corporate incorporation and equity trade, unemployment insurance, pensions, health care insurance, security and diplomacy.
The alpha release, which is updated in realtime in response to user feedback on the Bitnation discussion groups, already includes some interesting features, such as the possibility to register and timestamp a document on the blockchain.
Previous Bitnation pathfinders and proofs of concept include the first marriage registered on the blockchain and the first blockchain passport. Bitnation also developed and tested workable DIY land titles recorded on the blockchain in Ghana, where 70 percent of land lacks proper titles, preventing investing in and borrowing against land.
Bitnation, after surveying many blockchain-based protocols, has teamed up with Horizon and Blocknet to develop the first implementation of Pangea. While the Horizon blockchain is used in the alpha release, Blocknet technology will enable Pangea to support other blockchains. According to Tarkowski Tempelhof, future releases of Pangea will not be limited to altcoins but able to use the Bitcoin blockchain itself, which bids well for the future of the project.
“Bitnation is a groundbreaking concept, and we’re very excited to provide a platform for it to be developed upon,” said Blocknet core team member Arlyn Culwick. “We believe that the Blocknet, by enabling open ended inter-chain services, unlocks the full potential of blockchain-based technology.”
“Bitnation is a revolutionary idea, an idea which we believe will radically change the world for the better,” said Tarkowski Tempelhof in a previous press release. “However, being the first in the world to challenge the nation-state construct head-on through providing better services using blockchain technology, it is not always easy to implement.”
Of course, one of the main challenges is funding. Therefore the Bitnation team, which so far has mostly relied on volunteers, is looking for a moderate amount of angel funding to put its operations on more solid ground.
