I spend most of my time chasing new frontiers, not just metaphorically, but in the literal sense of finding people who look at the world’s problems and say, “okay, let’s prototype the solution right now.” That’s why pop-up cities have always captivated me. They’re not utopias for armchair theorists. They’re messy, strange, impossible experiments, run by real folks in search of better ways to live.

Next year, 2026, there’s more energy, more momentum, and more actual ground being claimed than ever before. Here’s what’s on my radar (with huge thanks to xyz.city, THE living directory for this movement, for keeping the map updated when Twitter can’t).

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Infinite Games (Próspera, Honduras):
Organized by Infinita City, no pop-up city event right now feels as ambitious. Two months of decentralized science, biohacker tournaments, crypto-native prediction markets, and “playful” longevity sprints hosted right inside Próspera, Roatán, a place that itself didn’t exist until a few years ago. If you care about science, governance, and new ways to organize talent, this is the gold standard. From the first Zuzalu village in Montenegro to Infinite Games, the recipe is: gather 200+ nerds, create pressure, see what emerges.

Edge Esmeralda (California, USA):
Forget the word “conference.” Edge is a society incubator: part unconference, part village, part rolling start-up. Their events are all about living with founders, scientists, and riders at the bleeding edge of tech and culture. You’ll probably end up debugging a DAO proposal over breakfast or finding yourself in the middle of a governance workshop with philosophers. It’s not “Patagonia” this year, at least not announced. Esmerald is the confirmed edition, and more to come.

Ipê City (Santa Catarina, Brazil):
Brazil’s first real pop-up city, Ipê City, is a techno-optimist’s playground. Last year they moved 200+ people for a month of blockchain governance pilots, on-chain decision making, AI-powered demos, and pure inventive spirit. There’s nothing quite like the Brazilian Web3 energy and Ipê is quickly becoming a basecamp for Latin American founders, builders and DAO architects looking to push for new models of collective action. Planned for March 2026.

Forma / Solana Economic Zones (Several Locations):
There’s a dreamy vision for Solana-powered economic zones and pop-up cities, especially through Forma. But if you want to book a ticket, you might want to wait: as of writing, there’s still no confirmed Solana Economic Zone event for 2026, though the potential is massive.

Network State Conference (Singapore):
The Network State Conference is the global flagship event for thinkers and builders in the network state movement. Last year’s edition was in Singapore, drawing 8000+ registrations and an A-list cast, including Vitalik, Brian Armstrong, Ben Horowitz, and dozens of governments and city pioneers. There are no announced dates or locations for the 2026 edition. If you’re watching this space, stay tuned to ns.com/conference.

Oz City (Several Locations):

Despite the name, Oz City isn’t about Australia. It’s a pop-up village and residency, usually timed and organized around main Web3 and crypto events. Previous editions have landed in places like Argentina in San Martín de los Andes, Patagonia, drawing 100+ founders and hackers for bootcamps, co-living, and real-world collaboration. As of now, there’s no official Oz City event confirmed for 2026, but the organizing team keeps things fluid and reactive to the global crypto calendar.

The Zu Villages Spread (Several Locations):
The pop-up village idea started with Zuzalu and has since become a family, each with its own local flavor, focus, and crowd.

• Zuitzerland (Swiss Alps): Alpine build sprints, governance experiments, and longevity labs.

• Zukas (Turkey): Rural and radical, new in the scene.

• Zuzalu (Montenegro): The prototype that proved it could work.

• ZuAfrique (Kenya): Welcoming builders, hackers, and creators into African co-living experiments.

• ZuCity Japan (Nagano): Tackling the Akiya crisis, restoring abandoned homes for innovation and cultural exchange.

• Zelar City (Berlin): Anchored in longevity, biotech, science—for founders who want to cure aging, not just talk about it.

• Zu-Grama (Kerala, India): Science meets onchain community in a tropical, deeply experimental setting.

And Portugal: Our Next Pop-Up City?
I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t mention… I’m also working with a crew of like-minded founders, hackers, and community-builders to prototype the next pop-up city right here in Portugal. Whether it’s a launchpad for governance pilots, a month-long hackathon, or a programmable co-living retreat, the goal is to invite the world’s best to experiment, build public goods, and make a real dent in how cities can work.

If you’re interested, reach out. This movement is open, global, and looking for exactly the kind of energy you bring.

Final Thoughts
2026 is not the year everything will be solved. But it is a year more people than ever are betting their lives on new models, new cities, new code bases for society. The best pop-up cities will fail boldly. The best ones will keep growing. And if you show up, you’ll be part of the story.

Big thanks to xyz.city for being the North Star of this movement. See you on the frontier.

Lessons from the Hanseatic League

When we talk about self-sufficient countries, most think of states stockpiling energy, food, or metals. Yet, layered within the resource story are deeper forms of autonomy: defense, diplomatic leverage, and the ability to shape internal rules. These are often achieved not at a national level but through city or regional networks.

The Hanseatic League is a compelling case study. Emerging in the late Middle Ages, it was never a true nation. Instead, it formed a sprawling confederation of merchant towns across northern Europe. What set the Hansa apart was not only commercial power; their networked approach to defense and mutual protection agreements made all the difference.

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For mutual defense, the League did not maintain a standing army. Individual cities would raise their own regiments whenever a threat appeared, whether it came from bandits or rival nations. Warships and armed merchant cogs could be quickly repurposed for battle. When the need arose, coalitions formed, organizing blockades, embargoes, or even military intervention.

Cooperation was decentralized. Decisions happened by consensus, without a central government making binding rules for every member. Privileges and embargoes required majority support, and cities remained free to opt out if their interests diverged.

Autonomy within the League was significant. Members negotiated their own privileges, enforced local laws, and managed trade posts abroad with extraterritorial rights. Cities like Lübeck, Hamburg, Cologne, and Danzig conducted individual diplomacy, managed local defense, and shaped policies. In some cases, these actions happened within the broader context of a larger state structure.

This collaborative style of governance produced real resilience. Cities could protect trade, enforce embargoes, and even stand up to kings for centuries. The League was not fully self-sufficient in resources or military strength, but this cooperative network amplified the autonomy of its members.

Historical Examples of Partially Self-Sufficient Charter Cities or Towns

• Venice (Republic of Venice): For centuries, Venice operated as a maritime city republic. It was self-governed, militarily independent, and able to wage war, negotiate peace, and manage commerce with little outside interference. Its arsenals built fleets and its leaders negotiated with empires, but Venice still relied on international trade for key resources, showing pragmatic semi-sufficiency.

• Geneva (Pre-Swiss Confederation): Geneva kept its city-state status, self-administering law, maintaining its own security forces and policies, while negotiating protection with neighbouring states. Joint military defense with other cantons was common, yet full sovereignty always remained just out of reach.

• German Free Cities (Imperial Cities): Cities like Hamburg, Bremen, and Frankfurt enjoyed “reichsfrei” status, answering directly to the emperor instead of intermediate lords. They could raise militias, levy taxes, and enforce their own laws, balancing autonomy with the need to cooperate in federal defense coalitions.

• Danzig (Gdańsk): Danzig developed autonomy in trade, law, and local defense, often operating within Polish or Prussian umbrellas. It sometimes acted independently, declaring neutrality or joining League blockades when it suited local interests, but never achieved outright sovereign self-sufficiency.

Why Does This Matter Today?

The model of layered autonomy and cooperative defense offers a genuine alternative to classic resource independence. As cities and charters experiment with new forms of sovereignty, drawing inspiration from the Hanseatic League and city republics, the future may favor communities that:

• Build coalitions for defense and diplomacy

• Make local laws and decisions

• Share standards for trade, technology, and security

• Opt in or out of federations as their interests change

Whether we reflect on historic port cities, medieval merchant leagues, or today’s charter and crypto cities, partial self-sufficiency is not a weakness. It’s an adaptive strategy. Real resilience is rooted in networked cooperation and the ability to defend autonomy at every scale.

Where Do We Go From Here?

As old systems strain under new pressures, the opportunity for truly independent cities and communities is real. Could Próspera or Network School become more than experiments and emerge as genuine refuges for those seeking autonomy and new forms of citizenship?

And what about Madeira or an island in the Azores: could these become havens for those from Portugal or the European Union searching for a fresh start?

The next Hanseatic League won’t look like the last, but it might set the rules for resilience and freedom. The challenge now is clear: Who will build the next network of self-sufficient communities that truly defend and define their own future?

History favoured those who dared. Maybe now, it’s our turn.

Last week, I had the pleasure of attending the Free Cities Conference, held in the stunning Empire Hall in Prague’s city center, a city whose historic architectural beauty left a lasting impression, especially since it was my first visit. The event gathered more than 400 participants from over 50 countries, all exploring ambitious new models for governance and economic liberty.

Próspera, Ciudad Morazán & Seasteading: At the Forefront

A central theme was the remarkable progress of Próspera and Ciudad Morazán, two standout free cities in Honduras operating under ZEDE laws. They are now recognized as the flagship examples of regulatory innovation, economic freedom, and autonomy in the movement, that despite current political setbacks, we’re able to persevere and prosper (pun intended).

Panels and presentations delved into community experiences, business climates, and the risks and rewards of self-determined governance.

Seasteading also made waves, sparking lively debates about the future of floating autonomous communities and their role in expanding the frontiers of personal freedom.

New Frontiers: CryptoCity and Tools for the Commons

This year’s event went beyond Central American case studies and brought to light fresh experiments:

• CryptoCity, Isla Margarita (Venezuela): This bold urban initiative, built as a self-governing private city on the Venezuelan island of Margarita, aims to foster open innovation through an economic model centered on blockchain and digital currencies. The community is growing rapidly within Venezuela’s new Special Economic Zone regime, creating opportunity for crypto natives and global founders alike.

• Tools for the Commons: Hugo unveiled this modular digital platform, with its first deployment in Zanzibar and ambitious expansion plans to Doha, Rio de Janeiro, Egypt, and beyond. The goal: to become the “operating system” for Special Economic Zones, serving the same role for network states as Palantir has for critical industries in the US, by offering essential digital tools and AI-powered governance primitives.

Insights from Argentina’s Libertarian Reforms

One of my favorite personal encounters was with Iván Dubois, advisor to Argentine President Javier Milei. Iván shared compelling statistics illustrating how Argentina’s shift toward libertarian governance, marked by reduced state spending, stricter monetary policy, and abolition of fiscal deficits, is already resulting in concrete improvements in economic stability and people’s daily lives.

Are we becoming immortals?

Another memorable session came from futurist and longevity advocate José Luis Cordeiro, who spoke about “death to death” and introduced the Immortalis project, a vision for a Free City dedicated to advancing radical life extension technologies. Cordeiro shared thought-provoking ideas about how developments in biotechnology and AI could make biological immortality possible in our lifetimes, stirring lively debate on what such advancements might mean for society and personal freedom.

Reflections: The Geography of Innovation

As the conference wrapped up, a notable pattern emerged: most of these bold experiments, be it Próspera, Ciudad Morazán, CryptoCity, or the SEZs served by Tools for the Commons, are thriving in Latin America, Africa, or Southeast Asia. The environment in these regions combines entrepreneurial energy with regulatory flexibility, creating fertile ground for pioneering new models. Yet it’s impossible to ignore the lack of similar ventures in Europe. For the ecosystem to reach its full potential, bridging that gap should become a priority for next-generation founders and city-builders.

Looking Ahead: Next Stop, Próspera

In a fitting end to a truly inspiring gathering, the announcement that next year’s Free Cities Conference will be hosted in Próspera, Roatán, Honduras, underscored a growing confidence in these frontier models of autonomous community building. For anyone interested in the intersection of governance, technology, and freedom, the Free Cities movement has never been more vibrant or more global.

Imagine the first sunrise on Mars.

A faint golden light stretches across the horizon, revealing a patchwork of habitats and rovers set against a red plain. Inside those domes, humanity’s new settlers realize they are more than visitors. There are no inherited traditions or systems waiting for them. Only profound possibility.

Survival Before Structure

Life on Mars starts simple: oxygen, water, heat, food, shelter. Where Earth’s cities formed beside rivers and forests, Martian communities gather around oxygen converters and hydroponic bays. Every breath is a group project. Every meal, a collective win against the alien cold.

Arguments here stem from survival, not from ideology. A malfunctioning filter or an overused airlock might be the next big crisis. On Earth, most problems come with a safety net. On Mars, every issue is a test of community and trust.

Building Society from Scratch

As the adrenaline of the first weeks fades, settlers begin to ask deeper questions. How will resources be allocated? How will conflicts be resolved? Without centuries-old precedent, Martians invent social rules from real necessity, not out of convention. Laws might first emerge as routines, ready to change as quickly as the weather.

Instead of legal codes gathering dust, rules on Mars live and are visible, evolving with every discovery or setback. If disagreement breaks out over who gets fresh lettuce or how to apportion power, it could be settled with a quick open vote and logged in a public ledger available to everyone.

The Network Society

Borders on Earth are marked with ink and walls. On Mars, connection matters more than distance. Each habitat becomes a node collaborating with others, sharing knowledge, data, and resources in real time. This is a true network society: not built from geography, but from coordination.

Participation defines citizenship. The engineer who maintains oxygen, the farmer tending hydroponics, and the teacher sharing knowledge all hold the same civic weight. Contribution is the currency of trust, and reputation its reward.

In a way, Mars will be the biggest living test of Balaji's network state theory. Instead of being bound by birth or borders, citizens align around purpose and shared values. Governance emerges organically through action, not inheritance. Rules are agreed upon in open systems, and legitimacy flows not from central authority, but from collective consent.

Power emerges from trusted contribution and collaboration, not from titles.

The Currency of Martian Life

Eventually, Martians will ask what counts as money. Packing up cash for interplanetary transport is out of the question. Local currency will almost certainly be digital. Elon Musk, for example, and others have proposed that cryptocurrencies could be the backbone of the Martian economy (at least according to my AI tools). Bitcoin, Marscoin, or some yet-unnamed token might track value and trade, running transparently and automatically as life demands something reliable in a world so unfamiliar.

There will be practical challenges. Communication between Earth and Mars can take up to forty minutes for a round trip. This makes it necessary for the settlement to have its own local ledger, updating in real time. Transactions for oxygen, food, or power will happen through wristbands and digital wallets, confirmed instantly across local networks and later synced with Earth’s blockchains (this might be your chance to have Ethereum on Mars vitalik.eth). Over time, contribution and trust may become more valuable than any balance of tokens. An engineer with a perfect maintenance record may have more standing in the community than a silent coin hoarder.

Writing a New Constitution

When the time comes to write the rules for Martian society, the process will recall the bold experiment of the United States’ constitutional convention. Like those first American founders, Martian settlers will not have ready-made answers. They will need to debate, improvise, and adapt, searching for the values that can bind a new frontier community. Openness, self-determination, fairness, and resilience will need to be agreed upon.

Where the US Constitution began with pen and parchment, Mars may encode its founding principles in open-source software: transparent, auditable, and accessible to all. The aim is not to mimic old blueprints but to continue the human tradition of collaborative invention, adapting it daily to new realities.

The “Foundation” Parallel

In many ways, this Martian moment echoes the spirit of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation. In his novels, civilization stands on the edge of decline, and a small group of thinkers creates a “Foundation” to preserve knowledge and rebuild the future. They are builders standing at the edge of entropy, armed only with foresight, science, and belief in progress.

Martian settlers will find themselves in a similar position. They will not be escaping collapse but restarting the cycle of civilization in a new context. Like Hari Seldon’s scientists, they will rely on prediction, cooperation, and shared intellect rather than power or conquest. Each dome, each digital network, will serve as its own foundation, a node in a living Seldon Plan built not to survive disaster, but to prevent it.

If Earth is the Galactic Empire on the wane, Mars may become humanity’s first conscious reboot. A place where knowledge is the constitution and progress the religion.

Choosing Who We Become

Perhaps Mars is not the continuation of civilization but its reset. A reminder that every society, no matter how advanced, must begin again with shared trust and mutual dependence. On Earth, we built upward. On Mars, we build inward. Toward meaning, connection, and the fragile art of cooperation.

Martian life will ask us to rediscover the essence of being human, stripped of noise and legacy. Each act of care, each shared decision, each repaired system will carry the quiet weight of our collective identity. In learning to survive together, we may finally remember what makes us worth surviving at all.

Because the question that will define this new world is not how far we can go, but how deeply we can remain human as we go farther than ever before.

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Last week, I had the privilege of spending several days in Singapore during Token2049 and the Network States Conference.

While most people in town were chasing token launches, panels, and afterparties, my mission was different.

I went there to dive deep into the Network States movement: to learn, to connect, and to understand what this emerging ecosystem really means for the future of societies.

This is my recap of that inspiring week.

Day 1: Tuesday, September 30th

After a long 16-hour flight(s), I finally landed in Singapore.

Still jet-lagged but excited, I decided to skip the Grab and take a bike ride through the city, which turned into a mini-adventure (and made me 40 minutes late) to the first Network States gathering.

There, I met Eric B, writer, event organizer, co-founder of Ipê City, and one of the original creators of the Network States Dashboard, alongside with Oskar and a handful of other pioneers.

I also had the chance to meet some fellow Network State writers like Parallel Citizen and Isabelle Castro, whose passion further inspired me to keep writing about this space.

Among the crowd were people from Network School, and my friend Carvas from DeltaY, the creator of the incredible xyz.city dashboard.

The evening ended with a massive burger, an ice-cold beer, and great conversations. Then I headed to the hotel to rest, or at least tried to.

Day 2: Wednesday, October 1st

After barely two and a half hours of sleep, I gave up trying and picked up The Anthology of Balaji by Eric Jorgenson.

It felt like the perfect moment to dive deeper into Balaji’s vision.

By the time I had read half the book, I hit the gym, followed by a quick swim, and was ready to head to Draper House, where Infinita City organized two full days of Network State-focused events.

It was an honor to be there representing LayerX as one of the event sponsors. (Thanks, Niklas!)

I arrived first at 8am and spent the morning coworking, meeting fascinating people, and reconnecting with Niklas and Kara from the Infinita team, both of whom I collaborate with as an Infinita ambassador.

The event seemed like a satellite of Infinita City, as you could use $LIVES, Infinita’s currency to buy food, drinks and merch during the whole day.

If you want to know more about $LIVES please check out their page here on why it is much better than using fiat currency on the island.

Later in the day, I attended incredible talks:

• Lonis and Niklas on Prospera and Infinita City

• Jean Hansen on Ipê City

• Florian Fournier on OurWorld and Zanzibar SEZ

• Liam Bates (and his father) on Sealand, the OG Network State

Every minute was worth it. I asked the same question to each speaker:

“These experiments are amazing, but how can someone like me, from Portugal or elsewhere, truly contribute to this movement?”

And to wrap up that day?

The announcement of Infinite Games by Niklas, 2 full months from February to March 2026, divided by categories: frontier, mind, body and social games.
Think of Hunger Games but without people dying (hopefully). 😂

If you want to know more about Infinite Games, please check out the website here and apply to be an Infinite Games Medallist! 🥇

After the event, I went out for Thai food with Carvas and Tiago, the CEO of DeHouse, a coworking collective I also helped to co-found.

We talked late into the night about how we could bring the Network State movement to Portugal and drive real change.

Day 3: Thursday, October 2nd

I overslept (no gym this time 😅) but was eager to keep learning.

I joined a few side events before heading to the Open Startup City Lunch, hosted by none other than Patri Friedman.

For context, Patri is the founder of The Seasteading Institute, GP at Pronomos Capital, and grandson of Milton Friedman, the Nobel-winning economist.

During lunch, I met Bradford Cross, Managing Partner at Pronomos and CEO of Alpha City, a federation of frontier cities across Africa.

Bradford’s enthusiasm for Portuguese-speaking Africa and his love for Porto instantly created common ground.

It gave me hope that Portugal could soon become part of the global Network States map.

Later, I headed back to Draper House for more inspiring talks:

• Peter Fedichev (Gero AI) on how to stop aging and live forever

• Ken Kruger (Network Bank), Ariel Amar (Westy), and Joseph McKinney (Startup Societies Foundation) on crypto and legal engineering

Dinner that evening was again with Tiago and Carvas, at a local food court eating spicy noodles, followed by a hotel rooftop under the Singapore skyline, having a deep conversation about life, ventures, kids, and purpose.

I went to bed late but incredibly inspired by the ambition and brilliance of young people like Carvas.

Day 4: Friday, October 3rd

The big one: Network States Conference.

I started my morning at the gym, then followed the first talks via livestream before heading in person.

From the moment I arrived, I could feel it. This was different.

The talks and speakers were world-class, and the atmosphere was pure signal:

No booths. No scammers. No noise.

Just ideas, innovation, and meaningful conversations.

Balaji’s energy was incredible, still buzzing despite pulling off an event for 2,000 people.

This was easily the best conference I’ve attended in years, maybe ever.

I met the incredible team behind Tools for the Commons, Kim from Onchain City, James of Ârc and reconnected with familiar faces from Porto: Pamir, Hugo Volz, and the DeltaY team, and realized how many people I already knew were part of this movement.

It made me even more bullish on Portugal’s role in the Network State space.

Also, the food was great (a rare thing at conferences).

Afterwards, Tiago and I wrapped up the trip with some incredible sushi before heading to the airport for the flight home.

Bonus Day (That Didn’t Exist): Saturday, October 4th

Unfortunately, I misbooked my flight and ended up leaving a day early, which meant missing two great events:

• A visit to Network School

• Ârc — Network & City States Insiders’ Firesides

There’s always next time.

Going Back Home

While waiting at the airport and later back home, I caught up on the talks I missed via the livestream.

🎥 Watch here

This week left me energized and inspired.

I returned with a stronger sense of purpose and two clear next steps:

1. Positioning LayerX as a web3 development studio focused on Network State tooling to help advance this frontier.

2. Kicking off Network States Portugal, a community for builders, dreamers, and thinkers shaping the next generation of societies.

   (Our first event happens this month in Braga, Portugal: Meetup link)

The Eternal Optimist Reflection

If there is one thing this trip reminded me of, it’s that human progress always starts with small gatherings of people who care deeply about the future.

In Singapore, surrounded by dreamers, thinkers, and builders, I saw a glimpse of what that future might look like.

Network States are not just about governance or technology. They are about agency, community, and the belief that we can design better societies.
One experiment at a time.

As I flew back home, I realized that optimism is not naive. It’s an act of rebellion against cynicism.

And if there is one thing I’ll keep doing, it’s staying optimistic about the future we’re building together.

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A great starting point to explore this emerging landscape is xyz.city, a new website that maps the existing network states and popup villages. Browsing through it feels like peeking into the early internet. It is fragmented, experimental, and in many ways still rough around the edges, but you can sense the energy of something new taking shape.

From my own perspective, having spent years traveling and watching how people naturally self-organize, I believe these experiments are far more than utopian projects. They are the living labs of how future societies might work.

The Landscape of Network States and Pop-up Villages

Here are some of the most visible initiatives today:

• Network School (Forest City, Malaysia/ Singapore) - built by Balaji Srinivasan, NS functions as a society-as-a-service and includes everything from meals to gym to accommodations, in an island near Singapore.

• Prospera (Honduras) – a charter city with its own governance and regulatory framework.

• Infinita City (Prospera, Honduras) – a Layer 2 of Prospera, focused on biotech and longevity projects.

• Zuzalu (Montenegro/ Various Locations) – a pop-up city that brought together researchers, entrepreneurs, and thinkers around health and governance.

• Edge City (Various Locations) - Edge hosts monthlong popup villages where people at the frontiers of technology, science, and culture live and work together.

• Ârc (Forest City, Malaysia/ Singapore) - a Layer 2 of NS, focused on attracting and retaining citizens there.

• Cabin (Various Locations) – a network of co-living spaces that blends physical retreats with online coordination.

• Crecimiento (Buenos Aires, Argentina) - Focused on turning Argentina into a crypto hub through pop-up cities and blockchain-driven experiments.

• Forma (Various Locations) - A network state focused on hosting pop-up villages and developing solana economic zones in frontier markets.

• Viva City (Various Locations) - Viva aims to build a new city that could foster medical freedom, self-experimentarion and drug development at warp speed.

• Praxis (NYC, USA) - Praxis’ purpose is to restore Western Civilization and pursue our ultimate destiny of life among the stars.

These are only a few examples. Dozens more are being catalogued and updated at xyz.city. Each represents a different flavor of experimentation, from short-term gatherings to fully operational jurisdictions.

Prospera and Infinita: The Leading Edge

Among these initiatives, Prospera in Honduras remains the most advanced example of a functioning network state. It has created a jurisdiction with its own governance and regulatory framework, attracting builders, investors, and innovators from around the world. It is not just theory, it is a real place where new forms of law and economics are being tested.

Infinita City, where I am honored to serve as an Ambassador, builds on Prospera’s foundation. Think of it as a Layer 2 of Prospera: while Prospera provides the jurisdiction and governance infrastructure, Infinita focuses on creating a thriving ecosystem for biotech and longevity projects. It is where science, entrepreneurship, and governance intersect, pushing forward one of the most ambitious frontiers of human progress: extending healthy human life. They’re now hosting a the Bio-Frontiers Month to attract people and launch new ventures on the bio-tech and longevity space.

Tools for Builders

It is not just about the cities themselves. Entire ecosystems are forming around the idea of building and governing these new societies. Projects like Tools for the Commons and Onchain.City are developing infrastructure that makes it easier for communities to self-organize, fundraise, and manage resources transparently.

Full disclaimer: I am an angel investor at Tools for the Commons, so my perspective is naturally biased. But I see their work as critical for enabling communities to move from fragile experiments into sustainable real world models. If network states are going to scale, they will need the kind of digital plumbing that Tools for the Commons and Onchain City are creating.

Looking Forward

We are still early. Most of the projects listed on xyz.city are closer to prototypes than fully functioning societies. Some will fail, others will evolve, and a few will quietly become part of history. But the trajectory is undeniable: people are rethinking how we live together, and they are not waiting for nation-states to reform themselves.

The question is not whether these experiments will succeed perfectly, but whether they will succeed enough to show us a different path forward. From what I have seen in Prospera, Infinita, and the tools being built around them, I believe they already are.

Kudos to the DeltaY team for building xyz.city! More tools like these are needed!

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For almost ten years I’ve been traveling across Europe in a motorhome, spending time in campsites and camping resorts. On a recent trip through Spain, I started noticing something unusual: these places look a lot like small-scale experiments in how future societies could work.

In campsites, people naturally form communities—helping each other out with tools, sharing advice, or stepping in when something breaks down. Everyone lives under similar conditions, regardless of whether their motorhome is modest or luxurious. And the real magic happens in the communal spaces: the pool, the amphitheater, the restaurant—where people connect, share experiences, and create culture together.

The Community Spirit

My journey into camping life didn’t begin with a big motorhome. It started in a tiny van that once belonged to my mom. It barely fit a small mattress, a surfboard, and a couple of bags of clothes. With that little van, my wife and I decided to explore the Vicentina Coast in southwest Portugal, winding through Alentejo and Algarve.

Halfway through the trip, in Vila Nova de Milfontes, the van blew a tire. To make things worse, the spare tire was stuck. Stranded on the side of the road, during a long weekend, we had no idea how we’d get back on track. That’s when two families from nearby motorhomes came over to help. They couldn’t get the spare tire themselves, but they tried everything they could for hours, helped us set camp and eventually gave us a ride to a tire shop on Monday. Thanks to them, what could have been a trip-ending disaster turned into a lesson about generosity and community. It was in that moment my wife and I knew we’d be doing these kinds of trips for a long time and that one day, we’d have a motorhome of our own.

Fast forward to today, and that same spirit still defines every campsite I stay in. Why do you think motorhomes and camper vans park next to each other? To protect one another. Whether it’s lending a tool, sharing local tips, or helping out a stranger in need, motorhome users live by an unspoken code: we look after each other. It’s this spontaneous, voluntary sense of community that makes camping so unique and it’s also what makes it feel like a living example of how network states could work.

Same Spirit, Similar Conditions

When I finally bought my first motorhome, one of the things that struck me right away was how equalizing campsites feel. No matter how big or small your vehicle is, everyone parks in a similar spot, with the same access to water, electricity, and the shared facilities. You might pull in with a modest camper, while the neighbor next door has a shiny, brand-new motorhome worth ten times as much. But once you’re set up, those differences quickly fade into the background.

I remember arriving at a campsite in southern France after a long drive, tired and just looking forward to some rest. On my left was a retired German couple in a high-end motorhome, with all the latest gadgets. On my right was a young French family traveling in a van not much bigger than the one I had started with years ago. Nobody cared about the price tag of the vehicles. What mattered was that we were all living under the same conditions, following the same rules, and sharing the same space.

That sense of equality is what makes campsites so special. They strip away much of the status signaling that dominates daily life and create a baseline where people interact as neighbors, not as classes. It reminds me of how network states are imagined: not as places where wealth disappears, but where the structure of living creates a shared foundation that allows culture and community to thrive.

The Communal Magic

Last week I stayed at Sangulí Salou, one of the most complete campsites I have ever visited. The place had six pools (one just for dogs), daily shows for both kids and adults, several restaurants, direct beach access, playgrounds, supermarkets, shops, and countless restrooms spread across the park. During my stay, I realized I did not need to leave the campsite at all. Everything I could possibly need was inside its walls.

Walking around (or biking), it felt less like a simple camping resort and more like a small city. Families strolled to dinner in the restaurants, children ran from the pool to the playground, neighbors gathered for evening shows, and every corner seemed alive with activity. It struck me how naturally a sense of culture emerges in these spaces. People arrive as strangers, but the shared infrastructure brings them together, creating routines, traditions, and memories that feel bigger than just a vacation.

This is the magic of communal spaces: they transform a collection of individuals into a community. And isn’t that what cities and eventually network states are all about? When I looked around Sangulí Salou, with its self-contained ecosystem of entertainment, services, and culture, it felt like a prototype of a mini-society. A reminder that when the right spaces exist, people do not just live side by side, they build something larger together.

Campsites as Accidental Network States

The more time I spend in campsites, the more I feel they are unintentional experiments in how societies can work. Nobody designed them to be political or cultural laboratories, yet when you look closely, they have all the ingredients of what some thinkers now call a network state.

Rules exist and they are respected: quiet hours, waste separation, pool schedules, security at the entrance. Everyone agrees to them because without these shared norms the whole experience would collapse. Services are provided fairly across the community, from electricity hookups to shared bathrooms, in a way that levels the playing field. Culture emerges naturally, shaped by the shows, the poolside gatherings, the kids making friends, and the shared rituals of setting up camp.

If you zoom out, a campsite looks like a small city. Sangulí Salou, for example, spans more than 70 acres (29 hectares) and hosts thousands of people at peak season. It has its own internal economy, with supermarkets, shops, and restaurants. It has governance through its management and rules. And it has culture, created by the animation team that creates shows and activities and the people who return year after year, often to the same spot, forming traditions and a sense of belonging.

Network states are described by Balaji Srinivasan as communities that start online, build shared values, and eventually manifest physically. Campsites are the reverse: they start physical, but through shared rules and culture, they create a living network of people that extends far beyond the gates. For me, after ten years of traveling in a motorhome, this is what makes campsites so fascinating. They are accidental prototypes of what the future of human organization might look like.

Conclusion: A Glimpse of the Future

When I think back to that first trip along the Vicentina Coast in my mom’s tiny van, it feels worlds apart from staying at Sangulí Salou with its six pools, restaurants, and nightly shows. Yet both experiences taught me the same lesson: the real value of camping is not in the vehicle you drive or the amenities you enjoy, but in the way people come together to create a shared life, even if only for a few days or weeks.

Over the past ten years on the road, I have seen countless moments of generosity, equality, and cultural creation inside campsites. These are not accidents. They are the result of a system that provides a common baseline for everyone and builds opportunities for people to connect. It is the same recipe that thinkers imagine when they talk about network states: shared values, fair rules, and the spaces where culture can emerge.

Fun fact: did you know that when 2 motorhome drivers cross each other on the road, they salute one another? This is similar to leaving your house and saying hi to your neighbour.

Campsites remind me that societies do not need to be reinvented from scratch in Silicon Valley boardrooms or on Twitter threads. They are already being tested in places where families cook together under the stars, neighbors lend a hand when something breaks, and thousands of strangers turn into a temporary but real community.

Perhaps the future of how we live together is not some abstract theory. Perhaps it is already parked in the campsite next to us.

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Not sure if this is the best example ever, but think of it in these terms: reforming a house theoretically seems faster than building a new one, but let’s imagine your house has mould or some kind of humidity problems. Doing a quick reform will probably be faster and more cost effective, but it might not solve the problem in the long run. And if you keep doing it multiple times, than it stops being cost effective and most likely affects your personal health as well as your family’s after a while.
My point is: if your house is rotten on the inside, isn’t it better to tear it down and start a new one?

Reality vs. expectations

Although reality is not the same for each individual, as a society I believe we truly want a better future for us and the following generations. But, we all have different expectations on how that can become.

If you’re part of the older generation (+60), statistically you’ll most likely have this view: “I’ve done my share and I don’t have enough time to change the world, so I’ll just enjoy it as it is and hope the next generation is able to do better.”

In case you’re part of the working class, with a family to maintain and support (30-60), this is most likely your view of the world: “I have bills to pay and I want to provide the best possible life for my kids, so I don’t have time to change the world. I just want to get my pay-check, some time to play with the kids, educate them and survive macro economic bumps.”

Unfortunately, I don’t have enough empirical data to know what the younger generation thinks, especially if they’re in their 20s, although I already met some incredible smart kids that at least haven’t lost the “I want to change the world” mentality. And they’re equipped with a key factor: infinite tech at their disposal.

Having this said, then this means that:

• There are some 20-year-old kids brave enough to try it.

• There are some 30-60 people that deviate from the standard line of thought (typically tech founders or enthusiasts, business owners, people that climbed the corporate ladder way to fast and that want more than just a salary, creative people in general that weren’t trapped by wokism, bright minds that have immigrated and got rich but are now returning to their home country).

• Very few 60+ people still have that spark in them that might actively want to make a difference, but they still have valuable knowledge they’re willing to share.

In essence, there still a significant number of people that might want to be a part of change.

Tearing down vs. building somewhere else

Tearing down a house might be harder than finding a new place to build home. Your house might be an apartment that is part of a larger building or you might have surrounding neighbours or buildings that make it harder to tear it down.

You get the point: changing the system by tearing it down is most likely impossible as it would mean to have everyone accepting your ideas and proposed change.
Instead, it might be easier to creating it from scratch without creating friction with the current system, i.e. building in parallel, in a complete new land.

The promised land

Finding new land is actually easier than what one thinks. In all previous revolutions people needed a place to discuss and plan the revolution itself (meeting halls, clubs and public spaces in the case of the French Revolution, military meeting in secret using radio as signal in the case of the Portuguese Revolution of 1974).

We don’t need a place anymore, as that place is now digital!

Most of discussions now happen online, social and work related, so planning a new sort of society won’t be any different.
However, as discussions scale and community starts to gather, a physical place might not just be useful, but necessary to test different social experiments, types of governance, among many different things.

We’re humans after all… Being physically connected is in our nature.

Personally, I’d love to see this happen in Portugal. By having experience in building communities from scratch and being part of the creation of a crypto physical hub and coworking space in Porto (DeHouse), I know it is possible to make.

By going through it, I’ve also realized that community building and physical spaces have to go hand by hand and creating a binding manifesto and shared values is crucial to make this work properly.

Creating a coworking space might help, but is simply not enough to create a new type of society like a network society or network state.

Quoting Balaji Srinivasan on this:

WeWork, the coworking space. WeWork’s woes notwithstanding, they built a useful product. But it was more like a utility than a true community, more like a Starbucks than a small town. Think about it: in a coworking space, the couch might be leather and the coffee might be decent, but you don’t leave your laptop out of sight because you don’t know anyone there. You need to get a conference room to speak freely, you need to use a privacy screen; in general, it’s not a high-trust zone. That’s not a true community.

To summarize:

1. Building a strong community around shared values is critical to make this mission happen.

2. Starting online and moving into specific locations where the community is or wants to move.

3. Creating this in Portugal sounds hard, but doable, especially if someone is dedicated into make it his/her life mission.

Creating a golden cage

The primary reason to move abroad and change country is to find better opportunities and living conditions. When you do it, you typically seek people with the same interests, living conditions, goals, etc. Which means, you seek other expats or expat communities. When those expat communities grow up to a point where they only interact with one another, you’ve created a “golden cage” effect. This means that you probably live better than the overall population of that country, you have zero connection with its culture or language and you might even be hated by the locals.

This happened in many countries I’ve known and visited. The first one I experienced this was Angola in 2013, where I went as a young business/tech consultant to work with Finance and Insurance companies that were booming there at the time. I felt there were tons of opportunities there, but Portuguese people and other foreigners were living in “golden cages”. In the case of Luanda, Angola, you just had to leave your luxury condominium or hotel to see the huge difference between your lifestyle and the locals.

In 2025, the same is happening in Portugal, especially in Lisbon, where expats are now “conquering” the city. I love having my country full of smart people that chose Portugal as their home due to all the awesome conditions we have (ranging from food to sun and our beautiful coast). Despite getting high-value people and external investment in the city and country, the problem remains: aren’t we building 2 societies in parallel? And what’s the nefarious effects of their co-existence?

Fixing this for network societies: building Noah’s Ark

I have no clear solution for this potential problem, but I have some ideas on how it can be fixed: diversity of people, backgrounds, industry, etc.

Instead of focusing just on digital nomads and tech/crypto people, the idea is to bring an eclectic group that can be the representation of its tribe. The idea would be to mimic Noah’s Ark selection criteria: a tech founder, a designer, a corporate person, an artist, etc. The only caveat is that each one of them has to share the community values and purpose. The goal here is not to build this for an elite or creating a new type of elite, but instead having a significant sample that allows this concept to scale if it works, as it is not just addressing one small segment of the population.

Utopia or the new “European Dream”?

I don’t just hope for it to become the later. I will work for it to be the new motto.

I definitely feel Portugal and Europe as a whole is very undervalued and underestimated which makes this challenge even more interesting. Movements like eu/acc or Project Europe, as well as powerful European startups on the rise (not just in AI, but across sectors) might be the catalyst to accelerate this new type of society.

What do you feel about this? Do you believe we’re ready to make it become a reality?
Because I am.

Thanks for reading The Eternal Optimist! This is amateur but honest work with a lot of random thoughts. If you like it, feel free to subscribe!

Dark Age

a time considered to be not advanced and when people are unwilling to accept the beliefs or opinions of others, like some periods of the past.

Source: Cambridge Dictionary

Does this sound familiar?

I certainly haven’t lived in the Dark Ages to be able to make a comparison (thank god), but it is definitely something that keeps popping up.

I think there may be a lot of things going on that points us to that definition: geopolitical turmoil, immigration/ nationalist concerns, belief wars (with hidden economic reasons perhaps?), among many different social aspects I’m able to observe.

And the question that pops up is: is technology and AI a helper or a pusher for darker times?

As an example: we don’t need as many people to fight wars as we did in previous wars, which is great for once, as everything is now done by drones, missiles and AI. But is it that great? Or it just accelerates the escalation of wars and conflicts?

The question remains: is it perception or reality?

My personal feeling is that people are certainly more intolerant, which may be a post-COVID effect… or not, and we had it trapped inside of us all along.

For me there’s no debate that things are better than medieval times: better access to healthcare, education, living conditions, lifestyle and all sorts of options. It is also true that tech accelerated all of this and now with AI, I’d assume that the tendency is to make it even better.

As AI accelerates and brings down the cost of tech, it now exponentiates the human capacity and ability to enjoy more life.

So why don’t we do just that? Why are we trapped in fighting people, creating wars and dividing ourselves?

I’m not trying to be a hypocrite. I have my own beliefs and I’m also pissed off by things I consider toxic: old leftwing culture, new wokeism propaganda, innovation not progressing enough on my country or Europe in general and that good old bureaucracy we’ve all got used to.

Maybe this is an effect of being born in the 90s, where we had a thriving culture and several promises were made. Grabbing the typical meme: “The future promised flying cars, instead we got social media.”

Again, it doesn’t seem to be a question of perception, but maybe I’m wrong and it’s just my own reality.

The bigger question: whose fault is it?

The answer probably lies on us all. The most pressing example on my mind is: I’ve visited Auschwitz and after all these post-war years you still feel fucking goosebumps and question how was it consider normal to wipe out an entire part of the human race (or should I say, a specific part?). People used to be sympathetic with this and protect this heritage as sacred.

And now, after all these years, the biggest cry I hear is from Gaza supporters to wipe out jews again. I have my political views, but by no means I’m defending one side or the other, instead I’m giving a ludicrous example on how people are able to change their mind so quickly.

Information dissemination is bigger than before, but at a high cost: fake news spread as fast as real news and traditional media has both as content. Although social media is more broad and allows you to see different news and opinions, people will always go after what they consider right (which sometimes isn’t).

Personally I don’t like to watch news, as I don’t think it adds much value to my life besides entertainment and I prefer to entertain myself and my mind with more stimulating things. Maybe that’s why I’m more optimist than most, and in some cases a contrarian. Maybe that’s the way to fix it… Or not. Hard to tell…

Moving forward

There’s a lot I’d like to fix, starting with my city and my country. For a while, I thought moving to another country where progress and innovation is more pressing than pleasing everyone and everything. Countries like the UAE and Singapore sparked my curiosity, but in some aspects still feel like a facade.

What I’m more dwelling on right now is the concept of network states and startup cities like Prospera. Although there are already some cool experiences going on around the world on this like Network School by Balaji Srinivasan, I have all my life in Portugal: my beautiful wife and daughter, family and friends, the communities I started and belong and it’s where I feel home.

Maybe the way forward is through.

I just need to keep at it, creating as much impact as I can to my family, community, city and country. It may sound a nationalist view, but not quite. It’s actually quite selfish: to see my people thrive, see this and the next generation go beyond the obvious and above all the mess going on around this fucked up world.

This seems to be the way for me and hopefully I’ll come back saying we made it and we’re living the best time of our lives.

I can already see the light at the end of the tunnel! But then again, I’m an eternal optimist…

Thanks for reading! This is amateur but honest work with a lot of random thoughts. If you like it, feel free to subscribe!