The Rise of Network States: Insider Update
A friendly report to document my recent eye popping experience at The Network State conference.
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[This will help you understand what we are working on at Caskade & how we are positioning ourselves for the future…]
The Network State book is free online.
@Balaji Srinivasan's concept of "network states" describes how online communities are evolving into real-world, opt-in societies built around shared values. His recent conference revealed that this movement is gaining astonishing momentum and has the potential to fundamentally reshape governance models on a mega-political scale.
At Caskade, we recognize the immense potential in powering the foundations of these parallel societies. Our stakeholders include pioneers building decentralized, self-sufficient infrastructure for energy, water, and more. This allows local ownership and circular economies. The network state trend has huge momentum, with a projected $1 trillion market size for each city being achievable. I feel this conference had a “Founding Fathers” feeling, with the energy of the attendance infectious - and Caskade see the potential to provide the backbone for these new nations.
The Birth of Parallel Societies
Hundreds are already participating in communal living experiments like Vitalia, a society focused on life extension research. These small but highly engaged communities are carefully curating members and requiring access fees to participate. While not scalable yet, they represent the beginnings of parallel societies organized around niche interests and a shared sense of values and purpose.
Startups Building Nation Infrastructure
Ambitious startups are emerging to provide turnkey services for governance, economics, education, and other foundations required to support entirely new city-states. Companies like Praxis and Prospera aim to make it easier than ever to start and sustain a new network state. There is serious momentum in building the infrastructure for these parallel societies.
Decentralized Tech Enables Local Ownership
“What if we owned the business that served our community?”
A major driver of this trend is decentralized technology that enables self-sufficiency and local ownership of essential services like energy, water, WiFi mesh networks, and more. Caskade's stakeholders will be pioneers in building these decentralized technologies designed for circular economies and community control.
Huge Potential Market
Experts estimate the total addressable market for the "network state" ecosystem could reach $1 trillion. This includes membership fees, services, products, and more. Tremendous talent and capital are rallying around this movement.
A Founding Fathers Moment
I believe this network state conference represented a pivotal “Founding Fathers” moment for the future of governance. Opt-in network states have the potential to compete with and reshape legacy institutions. This could lead to a paradigm shift in how societies are organized and powered. And trust me, the talent is there.
Caskade's Role as Backbone
At Caskade, our mission directly aligns with empowering these parallel societies by providing the essential decentralized infrastructure for circular, self-sufficient economies. We see the potential to be the cybernetic backbone for the self-governance and local ownership that defines the network state model. By making localized energy, water, and other foundations available as a service, we can help new network states thrive.
The rise of network states provides immense opportunity for Caskade to be the underlying infrastructure layer for a new era of voluntary, decentralized societies built on shared values and ideals. We are excited to play a role in driving this transformation.