Futurists & Big-Picture Thinkers
The Network State: How to Start a New Country
Balaji Srinivasan · 2022 · Self-published
The former Coinbase CTO lays out a plan for internet-native communities to acquire land and seek diplomatic recognition as a successor to the nation state. Free to read online.
Cover image: Open Library.
Summary
“This book explains how to build the successor to the nation state, a concept we call the network state.”
The book asks whether the technology used to start new companies, communities and currencies can also be used to start new cities or countries. The author argues that internet-native communities can acquire land and gain diplomatic recognition, and calls the result a network state. Early chapters read history as a trajectory and describe a contest between the press, the state and cryptocurrency networks. Later chapters set out practical steps for founding one.
Summary based on the publisher's page ↗
Read it
The full text is free to read online at thenetworkstate.com. Print and Kindle editions are also sold.
About the author
Balaji Srinivasan
Balaji Srinivasan is the former CTO of Coinbase and a former general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, with a Stanford PhD in electrical engineering.
Source: Who's Who profile ↗