The constitution is meant to be a general framework that grows organically over time through contributions from citizens. Note: This document is what constitutes this nation. For a minor variation, please see the READMEUS.md file.
This poem was found on the BITNATION forum a few weeks after BITNATION was created. It was posted anonymously. A few minor revisions have been made from the original poem, which we've integrated as the framework for our constitution.
These 10 lines (each corresponding to an article) were preserved on the Ethereum blockchain during the creation of our Decentralized Borderless Voluntary Nation (DBVN). The articles are intentionally broad because they’ll live forever on the blockchain. They can’t be modified. However, we can continuously update the interpretation of what the articles mean, and how to implement them. To contribute to the meaning of the article, go to this GitHub repo, and open an issue, or do a pull request.
We are Ƀitnation.
We are the Birth of a New Virtual Nation.
We are a Future for Our World and Humanity.
We are Sentinels, Universal and Inalienable.
We are Creativity and Visionary.
We are Rights and Freedoms.
We are Tolerant and Accepting.
We are Polity and Entity.
We are Privacy and Security.
We are Openness and Transparency.
We are a Dream and a Reality.
We are Ƀitnation.
We’re the world’s first Decentralized Borderless Virtual Nation (DBVN), a Blockchain Jurisdiction.
We define a nation the following way:
A community of likeminded individuals (citizens), working towards a common goal, who’ve become aware of its political autonomy.
An entity providing opt-in core governance services (rule of law, security) to its citizens, and to non-citizen customers.
We use a holocratic governance model, comprised of different entities with various degrees of autonomy: Core, Holons, Citizens, Laws, The Archipelago:
The core is the lead of the holocracy, a small group of dedicated citizens, who are able to set the general framework, and make swift decisions. Generally the founders and/ or core developers.
A new core can be created at anytime, and the holons and citizens can choose to follow the new core.
The responsibility of core is to manage the key infrastructure, including funds, wallets, domain names, general political positioning, core development priorities, etc.
Core is the genesis holon of a chain of human operated holons in the DBVN, in the same way a genesis block in a cryptocurrency births the blockchain.
Holons are parts within the DBVN, with various degree of autonomy, at various times. Any citizen can start their own holon, for profit or non-for profit, without any central approval. Citizens suggest Holons, and others can choose to finance them or work on them. The holons benefits from the DBVN resources and infrastructure.
Citizens opt in or out on a voluntary basis, and can be part of several nations, or none at all.
Citizens should contribute in some way, either through work, computing power or in other ways, to the nation.
Citizens should have read the constitution, and signed off on the principles.
Being a citizen means receiving dividend from the profit of the nation, and being part in building the nation. You do not have to be a citizen to use BITNATION’s services.
Each citizen is subject to the reputation system, which serves as an incentive for good behaviour.
We accept homo sapiens, as well as artificial intelligence (AI) agents as citizens.
We practice a Polylegal system, meaning people are free to choose the code of law of their preference, whether that’s Common Law, Sharia Law, Civil Law, Pashtunwali, or whatever it may be. People are also free to create new individual laws, or new codes of law.
Laws can be refereed to, or coded into agreements.
Laws are subject to reputation as well, and people reviewing law are equally subject to reputation of being good or bad at reviewing laws.
All laws compete on a free market, and people can choose which exact law is better suited for each individual agreement.
The Archipelago is a loose federation of different virtual nations, allies, embassies, ambassadors who pledge to assist each other when possible, and desirable.
We’ll prevent eternal bloodshed through empowering people to compete through offering better governance services, rather than through imposing a one-fit-all governance model through the use of force. We’re creating a precedent for a beautiful universe of millions of entities, one for each preference and desire.
The imaginary lines in the sand, called borders, belongs to a world of the past, a world of oppressive geographical apartheid. Where we live, there are no nation state borders, only universal freedom of movement.
In our world, problems are mere obstacles, interesting challenges to be solved through the ingenuity of humans and machines working together. We do not dwell on negativity, rather we work together to find mutually beneficial creative solutions, to be radically innovative.
We honour the Non-Aggression Principe (NAP) moral framework. We stand unified against any and all forms of coercion, whether it’s through violence, or the implied threat of violence. We’re building a world based on voluntary agreements between consenting entities.
We do not judge or select based on the colour of your skin, ethnicity, religion, country of origin, sexual preference, or degree of post-human. In our DBVN, everyone who wishes to make the world a better place through furthering voluntary agreements, is welcome to be a part of our Nation.
We have become aware of our political autonomy. We’re no longer willing to be oppressed by the coercive nation-state oligopoly. We live in Cyberspace, and we work together, to achieve freedom and independence.
We will not sell the data of our citizens or customers to any entity, under any circumstances. We strive for client side technology, encryption, and pseudo anonymity.
Everyone is welcome to join. Everything we do is public.
Article 10.1 Communications Protocol
Clarity above all. Understanding the challenges of communicating across different timezones, culture and personalities both during written and verbal communications.
Clarity of purpose: It’s helpful to define the desired outcomes and reasoning behind our written and verbal communications when starting a conversation.
Clarity of the words employed: It’s advisable to avoid sweeping statements in favor of clearly articulated sentences with well defined purposes.
Refrain from jumping to conclusions: A fundamental problem in many conversations is that we overestimate others capacity to understand our written and verbal communications, and we overestimate our own capacity to understand what they’re trying to communicate.
Contextual understanding: When analyzing what the other person is trying to communicate, take their context into account, including things like timezone, native language, and personal circumstances.
Respectfulness. We have come together to change the status quo through creating kickass software, to that end being disrespectful can divert the conversation from our set purpose into irrelevant areas.
It’s advisable to make an effort to not interrupt a person while they’re speaking. People often overestimate their ability to understand where a sentence will lead to, and when interrupting the other person in the middle of the sentence, they’ll respond without having the full understanding of the question or statement at hand. This applies mostly in the realm of verbal conversation, not written conversations.
Personal slights and attacks does not foster a good collaborative space, it s wise to avoid them. When we are emotionally affected by communications, attempt to take a step backwards and swallow the chill pill. Emotional or aggressive responses can disrupt healthy communications and waste valuable time and energy better deployed to achieve the goals of the discussion.
Eyes on Target. Taking time to understand the purpose and expected outcome of any forum, holon, channel or discussion and endeavouring to ensure that our communications relate directly to the purpose of said forum.
Noise Reduction Don’t disturb people with unnecessary requests Reduce noise on social media
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We are sovereign. We’re together. We’re the future.
Ambassadors are Bitnation citizens who provide tangible services to Bitnation citizens and diplomatic and community support positions to foster peaceful relations with other Nations. Ambassadors can be one of the following categories:
- DIPLOMATIC AMBASSADOR (DA): Perform duties as Officers working with existing Nations, as well as new virtual Nations. Full rights of Diplomatic immunity, travel, etc. will necessarily be vested with them.
- DIPLOMATIC CONSULS (DC): Formal Official position. Serves primarily in a ‘support role’ to both our Ambassadors and to Nation/State embassies and consulates dealing with our ‘citizens’ in foreign nations touristing/working or living as expatriates in the location of the Embassy/Consulate. Full rights of Consular immunity, travel, etc. will necessarily be vested within you.
- GOODWILL AMBASSADOR (GA): Informal Official representative for BITNATION during Events like DEVCON and even UN Events. Generally promotes and supports BITNATION and our services. Serve Refugees, the Stateless, people in frontier and emerging markets, assist using technology to facilitate meeting real-world basic needs to eradicate poverty, and opportunities to share the BITNATION vision in social or professional settings.
Any Bitnation citizen can become an ambassador for themselves and may represent others who have agreed to be represented by that ambassador. A full list of registered ambassadors can be found online at bitnation.io
Embassies are places where Bitnation ambassadors live and work. Due to the decentralized nature of Bitnation, a private residence or office is said to be owned by the government of Bitnation if the citizen is also an Ambassador, but only for the purposes of interacting with legacy nation-states; for example: to establish an embassy on record with the country the citizen resides in. A full list of registered embassies may be verified online at bitnation.io
Consulates are places where the Bitnation ambassadors and their consuls work. An embassy is also a consulate if the ambassador works there.
Further reading:
Bitnation Whitepaper, Published July 2017: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lnbUKaCzy1F3yrI73bMoIOAqK9h5mwtwuA_1z9G2Cqg/edit
Bitnation Foundational Document, Published July 14 2014 https://docs.google.com/document/d/16HDB9AABa5rTOVFJj_8VLdOxgMguovLLAMviaTkZ1q4/edit
Bitnation Whitepaper, Published October 10 2014 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1r_VqWrKQw07E06XAtMv_cZnFyBZma4PFTBJpM5GuzbA/edit
An evolutionary Nomic structure for digital rule making in Bitnation, Published Feburary 7 2016 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1l00egk-PyNIE4-kHZwFGA-asIB_rsIRwtbMPDZ0JYJ8/edit
OPSEC Guidelines, Published July 19 2017 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1E9uVmuW9_zhoStrcvkuK-3kg30ec7Qgj3qG4aK7IAic/edit