"Establishing crypto cities unrealistic… existing infrastructure should be improved"

Son Min

Summary

Most of the 'crypto city' projects have not been realized due to limitations in infrastructure construction and operations.
Experts said improving existing infrastructure through 'technical upgrades' such as blockchain is a more realistic investment direction.
They said investing capital in 'improving existing societies' is more reasonable than building new cities.

Projects worldwide that have billed themselves as 'crypto cities' have been pursued for years, but most have not been realized and were halted. Experts say the approach of building a fully autonomous crypto city itself is unrealistic, and that modernizing existing urban systems with blockchain technology is a more realistic direction.

According to Cointelegraph on the 22nd (local time), Akon, the Senegalese-American singer, announced 'Akon City' in 2018, which was highlighted as a $6 billion crypto city, but it was officially abandoned in July this year. Satoshi Island, which in 2021 purchased an entire island near Vanuatu to establish a blockchain economic community, is also effectively stalled due to issues with building essential infrastructure and securing operating licenses. The Puertopia project, which was to be built on a Puerto Rico naval base site, has seen no progress for years.

Ari Redbord, TRM Labs' head of policy, said, "Most crypto cities try to build a 'fully autonomous city with a complete blockchain economy' from the start, but that is an impossible goal," and "The real opportunity lies in technologically upgrading existing economies." He added, "A realistic direction is to use blockchain as a basis for transparency and trust, along with AI-driven risk analysis, fraud detection, and decision support," and "Ultimately, all cities will evolve into 'crypto cities' through technology rather than ideology."

Kadan Stadelmann, chief technology officer of Komodo, also said, "To create a fully sovereign crypto city with its own sovereignty would only be possible in spaces like international waters outside government control," adding, "You would have to operate survival infrastructure such as food and energy on the blockchain, and residents would need to be prepared to give up modern conveniences." He also said, "Such cities could be attacked by states over issues like tax collection or law enforcement and be defenseless against external threats like pirates," emphasizing, "In the end, capital is better spent improving existing societies than creating new cities."