Who wants in on this investment?

[climber7]

SAFE SPACE 

This floating ‘utopia’ will have its own government and cryptocurrency by 2022 – to beat rising sea levels

The company behind the floating city just started selling its virtual currency that will let you buy homes and businesses on its "eco-friendly" hideaway

By Saqib Shah

6th July 2018, 2:05 pm

Updated: 9th July 2018, 4:45 pm

 

Play Video

 

 

THE WORLD'S first floating city will boast its own government and cryptocurrency when it lays roots in the South Pacific in 2022, claim its backers.

Building work on this isolated "utopia" will begin next year following the signing of an agreement with French Polynesia's government in 2017.

SEASTEADING INSTITUTE

6

The first seastead made up of giant clusters of houses will be built by 2022, it has been claimed

SEASTEADING INSTITUTE

6

The futuristic island will be built in the Pacific Ocean

Get the best Sun stories with our daily Sun10 newsletter

Your information will be used in accordance with our privacy policy

 

The floating town is the brainchild of the Seasteading Institute, a non-profit co-founded by tech billionaire Peter Thiel (who sits on Facebook's board and is a former adviser to US President Donald Trump).

It's teaming up with a private entity called Blue Frontiers to build 300 houses on a seaborne platform off the island of Tahiti that will run under its own governance and boast its own money.

 

Joe Quirk, who heads up both organisations, has also stressed the eco-friendly potential of the sci-fi project, which will tap huge solar panels and wind turbines for clean energy.

"It would help people adjust to sea level rise, and experiment with voluntary governance," he previously said.

SEASTEADING INSTITUTE

6

Experts have spent five years working out how to build a 'floating city'

SEASTEADING INSTITUTE

6

The solar panels that will provide clean energy, along with wind turbines, to the "floating utopia"

"French Polynesia's concerned they may lose a third of their islands by the end of this century. Right next door is Kiribati, which is concerned it could completely disappear."

Now, almost a decade after it was dreamed up, Seasteading has begun the rollout of its cryptocurrency dubbed "Varyon".

 

Maybe it didn't get the memo that virtual currencies like Bitcoin are dying out.

Nonetheless, presales for the Varyon token kicked off on Thursday, offering bonuses from 5% to 15%, and will end on July 14, according to Business Insider.

SEASTEADING INSTITUTE FLOATING CITY

6

The first floating nations are likely to be built in sheltered waters

There's no word on when the public can get on board, which could draw yet more ire from critics who previously slammed the idea as elitist and impractical.

Varyon coins will be required for the purchasing of housing and building of new seasteads – Quirk once said that thousands of these floating nations will set sail by 2050.

"Varyon may be used to pay Blue Frontiers for the registration of businesses, residency, and virtual residency in Blue Frontiers’ administered SeaZones," explains the company in a Medium post.

"Varyon may be used to pay the major utilities provided by Blue Frontiers, such as electricity, cable services, sanitation services, etc.

SEASTEADING INSTITUTE

6

The US firm has signed a deal with the government of the French Polynesia

"Additionally, Varyon is a tradable token which can be used independently of Blue Frontiers. Blue Frontiers will work with outside partners to establish other use cases and systems for Varyon beyond what is listed above."

Randolph Hencken, executive director of the institute, previously said: "What we're interested in is societal choice and having a location where we can try things that haven't been tried before.

"I don't think it will be that dramatically radical in the first renditions.

"We were looking for sheltered waters, we don't want to be out in the open ocean - it's technologically possible but economically outrageous to afford.

"If we can be behind a reef break, then we can design floating platforms that are sufficient for those waters at an affordable cost. We don't have to start from scratch as this is a pilot project.

 

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tech/6711865/floating-city-cryptocurrency-varyon/