The Praxis Project: An Internet-First Ideology
Last summer, a significant event occurred as a young entrepreneur named Dryden Brown landed in the capital of Greenland with a bold proposition. Brown, the founder of Praxis, a network state startup, revealed his initial intention in a later viral tweet, “I went to Greenland to try to buy it.”
From Buying Greenland to Building a New City
After experiencing the pride of the Greenlandic people, Brown, aged 28, decided not to buy the country but to create something new instead. He proposed the idea of constructing a new city on the uninhabitable land of Greenland. He said, “What if we can sort of build a prototype of Terminus?” referencing Elon Musk’s proposed city on Mars. However, his idea was not well-received by the Danish parliament.
Rasmus Jarlov, a Danish politician, expressed his disapproval via a tweet, “Greenlandic independence requires approval by the Danish parliament and a change of our constitution. I can guarantee you that there is no way we would approve independence so that you could buy Greenland.”
Praxis: Network State Startup
Despite the disapproval, Brown and his co-founder Charlie Callinan have been steering Praxis for the last five years. They emphasize Praxis as an internet-first ideology, despite some controversies. Backed by Peter Thiel, Praxis recently raised $525 million for the development of its city-building project. The startup has the ability to draw down the money as it hits specific milestones in its project.
The group hosted 250 Praxis-supporters in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, where different location options for Praxis were presented. Praxis is considered a prime example of a network state, a term coined by former a16z investor Balaji Srinivasan. A network state is defined as an internet community that acquires a physical home and “gains diplomatic recognition from pre-existing states.” Marc Andreessen and Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin have praised and experimented with the concept.
Brown’s Vision for Praxis
Brown has been traveling from country to country, cold-emailing politicians, and exploring the potential for a techno-optimist city. His proposal is, “It’s basically finding a sort of opportunity for mutual benefit between a group of founders who want to build something new and exciting, and a country that would benefit from that.”
In Greenland, he met with government officials, mining tycoons, and local entrepreneurs. His main takeaway was that the residents desire independence from Denmark, but the government feels bound by the roughly $500 million that Denmark gives to the country annually. Brown suggested that if they could replace the $500M with another revenue source — taxes from a new city, mining, and tourism post-terraforming — it could derisk accession, and let Greenlanders get their long-sought independence.
Source: TechCrunch
