Bitcoin Early Adopters Build Seasteading Home off the Coast of Thailand

Interest in cryptocurrency is often interlinked with a passion for personal freedom and a desire to shape the future for the better. A recent example of this is a team of Bitcoin early adopters who are building a seasteading home off the coast of Thailand.

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Private Seasteading for $150,000

A short video documentary released by the Seasteading Institute on its Youtube channel showcases the establishment of a small seastead 12 nautical miles off the coast of Phuket, Thailand. The installation is now the home of Chad Elwartowski and Nadia Summergirl, a couple who wanted to move the futuristic idea from just a concept to a practical reality.

The people behind the project were Bitcoin early adopters who used the profit from that investment to fund their dwelling. They spent around $150,000 on the seastead, $30,000 more than they expected. “As it is experimental we ended up adding and adding and adding,” Elwartowski told Reason’s Brian Doherty.

According to the blog of the seastead construction team, Ocean Builders, $150,000 is the target minimum price for a barebones facility. “Closer to $200,000 would likely give you a move-in ready seastead with a nice kitchen, water, solar electric, etc.”

From French Polynesia to Thailand

Seasteading, a combination of the words sea and homesteading, is the idea of creating permanent habitats at sea, beyond the territorial control of existing governments. Promoters hope that one day large autonomous seasteading cities may be recognized as sovereign states in their own right and provide a platform for experimenting with new forms of governance to ensure citizens’ liberty.

Back in May 2018 it was reported that a seasteading project had reached a memorandum of understanding with French Polynesia with the aim of creating an independent island with its own cryptocurrency. Elwartowski and Summergirl had been waiting to build their seastead as part of that venture, but when progress there stopped they decided to go it alone in Thailand. They have no agreements with the Thai government but don’t anticipate any friction from authorities.

What do you think about this seasteading home built by early Bitcoin adopters? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock.

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Avi Mizrahi

Avi Mizrahi is an economist and entrepreneur who has been covering Bitcoin as a journalist since 2013. He has spoken about the promise of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology at numerous financial conferences around the world, from London to Hong-Kong.