Regulations, hype cycles and pie-in-the-sky promises have scuppered blockchain city projects across the globe… but one has succeeded.
Analysis
The blockchain industry has long strived to build its “city on a hill” — idealistic communities where blockchain provides a foundation and code is law. But they’ve not always panned out, as regulations, unrealistic expectations and other factors often make them dead on arrival.
For several years, idealistic, would-be founders have strived to build communities on blockchain. Some of these projects have been more grounded, using blockchain as a means of land registry, while others sought to build entire cities that would run solely on blockchain and crypto.
One of the most recent — and perhaps controversial — examples is US President Donald Trump’s in the embattled territory that would incorporate a token into its fundraising and property investment model.
MS Satoshi Bitcoin cruise flounders amid maritime regulations
Eccentrics have long sought a freer life at sea, from pirates to French actor Gérard Depardieu and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. In October 2020, three Bitcoin () idealists — Grant Romundt, Rüdiger Koch and Chad Elwartowski — bought a 245-meter cruise ship called Pacific Dawnfor $9.5 million,with the aim of converting it to a Bitcoin city parked off the coast of Panama.
The boat was supposed to provide an inclusive community for digital nomads and Bitcoin adopters that combined crypto enthusiasts with the “seasteading” movement — a campaign born among tech executives, which insisted that the next step in human development was to make communities living together on the high seas.
The former cruise liner boasted restaurants, pools, cafes and a gym. Residents would be allowed to mine crypto and conduct their affairs without troublesome government regulators. Bitcoin was to be accepted aboard the ship for any goods and services.
Unfortunately for the founders, investor interest was insufficient to cover the costs. Fuel alone was costing them $12,000 per day, and the COVID-19 pandemic presented logistical obstacles that they could not overcome. Furthermore, cruise ships are subject to some of the tightest maritime regulations on earth, a factor the founders failed to consider.
“We were like, ‘This is just so hard,’” Romundt The Guardian.
By December 2020, the owners sold the MS Satoshi.
Trump’s “Gaza Riviera” wants to tokenize displacement
On Aug. 31, the Washington Post reported that the Trump administration was forming a plan, dubbed the Gaza Reconstitution, Economic Acceleration and Transformation Trust, to develop the Gaza Strip under an American custodianship.
The 38-page document outlining the administration’s vision proposes a number of high-tech ideas that would supposedly stimulate the economy of the Gaza Strip, whose residents are victims of famine and repeated Israeli airstrikes.
Amid proposals for a deep-sea port, a “Trump touristic riviera” and electronic vehicle manufacturing zones, the prospectus suggests a “voluntary” program for Palestinians who offer their land to the trust. The token could be redeemed for relocation elsewhere or for a residence in one of eight “smart cities” planned in Gaza.
The plan has yet to move forward. UN experts have that the trust, which was developed by the Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), serves as cover for “covert military and geopolitical agendas in serious breach of international law.”
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Liberland: A Libertarian micronation on the Danube
In 2015, Czech right-wing libertarian politician Vít Jedlička claimed an uninhabited stretch of floodplain on the Danube River between Croatia and Serbia.
An odd combination of politics and engineering, in which the course of the Danube changed in the 19th century, left the seven-square-kilometer parcel of land unclaimed by either nation. Jedlička believed that he should be able to form a country there under the principle of terra nullius and founded the Free Republic of Liberland as its first president.
The project caught the attention of crypto enthusiasts as the micronation issues its own cryptocurrency, the Liberland Dollar (LLD), and promised a laissez-faire, minimalist approach to governance.On Sept. 2, 2025, the token available on crypto trading platform Alchemy Pay.
While neither Croatia nor Serbia claims the territory, neither supports the group of crypto libertarians. The founders, press and activists have had multiple run-ins with police while trying to cross the Croatian border.
Magazine:
After multiple attempts to make landfall and run-ins with the Croatian police, Jedlička was from entering the country for five years due to “extremist” activities.
CityDAO, Wyoming: Crypto goes West
Cryptocurrencies and interest around blockchain technology surged amid the COVID-19 crisis in 2020-2021, leading several states in the US, including Wyoming, to make laws for decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). In April 2021, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon signed a bill recognizing DAOs as legal entities.
The law went into effect on July 1, 2021. That same day, software engineer Scott Fitsimones posted:
The project aimed to prove that DAOs could purchase and manage land, streamline municipal decision-making and governance and resolve conflicts.
Within a month, the project had over $250,000 through the sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) called “Citizen NFTs.” Purchases from influential, pro-crypto entrepreneurs like billionaire “Shark Tank” investor Mark Cuban and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong helped fuel interest.
By October of that year, more than 5,000 people from around the world had contributed a sum of $8 million to buy 40 acres of land in Wymoning and “building the city of the future on the Ethereum blockchain.”
But the community ran into some challenges, namely, most members believed that “Parcel 0,” the plot of land they purchased, should be used “primarily for conservation and wildlife.”
A January 2022 hack in which fraudsters netted $95,000 through a fake “land drop” in the project’s Discord soured many on the project’s prospects.
The project was further limited by zoning laws. Even if the DAO had decided to use the project for something other than conservation, Wyoming residential zoning laws limit the 40-acre plot to just one, single-family home.
CityDAO may have succeeded in forming a legal entity, which was a first for a DAO, but it still fell short of the utopian goal of the city on the hill.
Akon City hits a bad note in Senegal
One of the highest-profile crypto city projects is Akon City, the brainchild of Senegalese-American singer Akon.
Akon announced his intent to launch the “Akoin” cryptocurrency in 2018. Initially pitched as a coin to support African creatives and entrepreneurs, Akon announced in 2020 that it would underpin his futuristic and self-titled “Akon City” project in Senegal.
Akon had secured 2,000 acres from the Senegalese government to support his eye-watering $6-billion smart city project, where Akoin would provide the means of payment for residents and visitors.
By 2029, the city was supposed to boast a modern hospital, office parks, a university and upscale residences, all within futuristic-looking skyscrapers along the Senegalese coast.
However, it barely got off the ground. The COVID-19 pandemic stalled construction, and by 2024, only the welcome center was partially complete.
By August 2024, Akoin’s price had totally collapsed. The Senegalese government demanded that Akon either start construction or return the land granted to him. As of July 2025, the project was officially abandoned.
Blockchains LLC’s crypto city goes dry in Nevada
In February 2021, blockchain incubator and investment firm Blockchains LLC to build a blockchain city. The company purchased over 67,000 acres of land for $170 million in the Nevada desert in Storey County, which it intended to turn into homes and business parks.
CEO Jeffrey Berns envisioned a city where residents would pay for goods and services in cryptocurrency. All information, including tax, medical and employment records, would be recorded onchain.
The company aimed to break ground in 2022, starting with the construction of 15,000 homes and 3 million square meters of commercial and industrial space.
However, the project’s proposed water source would have required a 100-mile pipeline. Kyle Roerink, executive director of the Great Basin Water Network, there would be “a lot of rights-of-way on federal lands in addition to those tribal considerations … It would be a very long process, likely with a lot of litigation involved.”
Another problem was that Bern’s plan hinged on his desire to change Nevada law and create “innovation zones,” which would essentially allow companies to operate like a county government, including levying taxes, creating courts and making land and water use decisions.
Lawmakers and the general public were not enthused with the plan. Critics that the “innovation zones” would essentially be .Berns said that the proposal failed to gain traction in the state legislature, and “one of the biggest problems the proposed legislation encountered was it appeared to have no champion.”
Success story: Liberstad, Norway’s anarchist commune
In 2015, John Holmesland and Sondre Bjellås founded the community Liberstad and . They’d purchased the land through donations to the Liberstad Drift Association. It was officially established the following June.
The project, which is founded on anarchist, voluntaryist principles, says it is “compelled to embark on the journey of creating a new and improved society that champions peace and liberty.”
The Liberstad complex, which is located not far from Kristiansand in southern Norway, consists of 150 hectares of land that hosts visitors and residents as it tries to grow its scope.
The initial land plots for Liberstad were purchased with Bitcoin, and the “city’s” sole medium of monetary exchange is City Coin (CITY), which it adopted in 2019.
Liberstad actually owns and operates land, boasts permanent residents and has developed proprietary blockchain technology for its economy. It may be small, but compared to the others, it’s a resounding success.
