Balaji Srinivasan：開源網路國家如何實體化
The Open Source Network State
- Balaji Srinivasan The Network State 創辦人
場次摘要
Balaji 探討如何將網路國家理論從線上社群落實到實體聚落，強調雲端優先與活化閒置資產。提出社群即服務與流動性作為新型社群運作關鍵。
值得記下的 5 件事
逐字稿
網路國家理論與實踐
今天我要談的是開源網路國家，以及我們如何把網路世界實體化。首先，我想簡單聊聊網路國家的理論、它的實踐、我們目前的進展，以及為什麼我認為這是加密產業未來的重要一環，不僅僅是加密貨幣，更是加密社群的未來。理想的現實世界資產，其實就是一個社群、一座城市，甚至是一個國家。Today I'm going to talk about the open source network state, and how we print the internet onto the physical world. First, I want to talk a little bit about the theory of network states, its application, where we are now, and why I think this is a big part of the future of crypto—not just cryptocurrencies, but crypto communities. The ideal real-world asset is actually a community, or a city, or even a country.
理論上，2022年我寫了一本書叫《The Network State》，內容很簡單，就是描述一個龐大的社交網路和加密貨幣的結合。這是終點嗎？我們會滿足於整天交易幣和代幣，還是能把它們帶到現實世界？這正是網路國家的核心。想法是建立一個實體的社交網路，不只一個，而是很多個。右上角是Network School，等等我會再提到。In theory, in 2022 I wrote a book called The Network State, and it's simply about having a massive social network and cryptocurrencies. Is this the end of the road? Are we just going to be trading coins and tokens all day, or can we embody them in the physical world? That's the essence of the network state. The idea was to create a physical social network, not just one, but many. At the top right is Network School, which I'll get to in a bit.
右下角你可以看到Vitalik的Zuzalu計畫，還有Ryan Johnson的社群等類似的東西，基本上這些都是臨時聚會，隨著時間推移會變成永久性的。這是理論，實際上我們在2024年創建了所謂的Network School。這是開幕日，我們從世界各地聚集了數千人，在新加坡外海的馬來西亞小島上建立了這個社群，類似一座廢棄城市，證明我們真的能把網路世界實體化。At the bottom right you see Vitalik's Zuzalu project, and Ryan Johnson's community and other similar things, which are basically networks of temporary gatherings that become permanent over time. That was the theory. In practice, we built what we call Network School in 2024. This is the opening day. We gathered thousands of people from all over the world and built this community on a Malaysian island off the coast of Singapore, in a kind of abandoned city, and proved that we can actually print the internet onto the physical world.
之後，如你們可能在X平台上看到，我們搬到哈薩克，為什麼？因為哈薩克給了我們更好的條件。馬來西亞不再歡迎我們，但哈薩克提供了很棒的方案。你可以看到，我們已經開始打破出席人數等紀錄，因為現在我們獲得了政府全力支持。這才是真正把加密帶到現實世界，就像中國關閉比特幣挖礦後，比特幣自動分散到其他節點一樣。Then, as you may have seen on X, we moved to Kazakhstan. Why did we do that? Simply, we got a much better offer from Kazakhstan. Also, Malaysia no longer wanted us there, and Kazakhstan gave us an amazing deal. As you can see here, we've already started breaking records for attendance and so on, because now we have full government support. So this is really crypto in the physical world, just like when China shut down Bitcoin mining and Bitcoin redistributed itself to other nodes.
我們知道加密在數位世界有這種韌性，這就是加密在現實世界的樣貌。此時此刻，我很確信2022年的理論和2024年的實踐，到了2026年，至少對我來說，我們已經證明了我們真的能把網路實體化。我們可以聚集數千人。這是來自全球超過八十個國家的人參加Network School的視覺化圖像。We know that crypto has that resilience in the digital world. This is what crypto looks like in the physical world. At this point, I'm convinced that with the theory from 2022 and the practice from 2024, by 2026, at least to my satisfaction, we've proven that we can actually print the internet. We can gather thousands of people. This is a visual representation of people who came to Network School from over eighty countries around the world.
我們能把網路帶到同一個地方，然後也能把這個社群搬到另一個地點，這次是Prospera，因為我們能夠重新平衡並在現實世界保持彈性，雖然會有些摩擦。那麼，下一步是什麼？我們想擴大規模，也想去中心化，因為我真的認為這是加密社群的發展路徑。所以我們把所有學到的東西開源，今天我就開始這個過程。We can print the internet and bring it to one location, and then we can move that community to another location, in this case Prospera, because we can rebalance and be flexible in the physical world, even if there's some friction. So, what's the next step? We want to scale, but we also want decentralization, because I really think this is the roadmap for crypto communities. So we're open sourcing everything we've learned, and I'm starting that process today.
打造新型社群與城市的思維
這裡有十二個打造新興社群的核心想法，這些都是我們過去幾年從理論到實踐學到的。第一個重點是：我們現在可以跟城市競爭，不只是跟公司或幣競爭。你知道有像Google這樣市值數十億美元的公司，也有像比特幣這樣的加密貨幣。Here are twelve key ideas for building emerging communities, things we've learned from practice over the past few years in trying to turn theory into reality. The first main concept is: we can now compete with cities, not just with companies or coins. You know there are billion-dollar companies like Google, and billion-dollar coins like Bitcoin.
這張表格顯示，如果你試著給一座城市估值，比如紐約市有八百萬人口，假設每人房地產價值三十萬或四十萬美元，這只是粗略估算，你可以爭論這個數字，甚至說是一百萬也行。重點是，你可以用這種方式給紐約估值，結果大約是兩到三兆美元。你可以對每個城市都做這個計算，會發現一個有趣的現象：如果把全球分散的巨型公司集中到一個地方、清算再重建，估值其實可以跟紐約、洛杉磯、舊金山這些城市相當。This table here shows that if you try to value a city, say New York, with eight million people, and you estimate, roughly, the real estate value at three hundred or four hundred thousand dollars per person in New York City—why per person? Well, for every man, woman, and child, right? So you have couples, you have housing for couples, and so on. Let's say three hundred thousand. You can argue with that. Maybe you say it's a million, that's fine. The point is, you can get a valuation for New York based on that assumption. You'll get a valuation between two and three trillion dollars, and you can do the same for every city. You'll get a very interesting result: if you took the giant companies we've built, distributed all over the earth, and printed them in one location, liquidated and rebuilt them, you'd get a valuation comparable to a city like New York or Los Angeles or San Francisco.
這很有趣，因為我們平常不會用這種方式思考城市的資本需求，但其實它們跟最成功的公司相當。事實上，這也蠻合理的，因為全球大城市數量跟大型企業數量差不多。所以我們可以跟城市競爭，不只是公司或幣。這會帶來新想法，例如你也許可以擁有與城市相關的資產，像紐約或舊金山這樣的城市，最終你可以擁有一部分，從一個小資產開始，逐步參與城市建設。That's really interesting, because we don't usually think about cities this way, in terms of how much capital it takes to build them, but they're roughly equivalent to the most successful companies. And you know what? That kind of makes sense. There are about as many of these cities as there are big companies, right? So we can compete with cities, not just companies or coins. And that immediately leads us to new ideas. For example, maybe you have an asset related to a city. Can you own a city like New York or San Francisco? Maybe eventually, but you start with an asset that might contribute to building a city.
第二點，你可以用完全不同的方式思考中國的發展，不只是科技公司，像上海、深圳這些城市本身也有估值。第三，你也可以思考如何建設新城市。舉例來說，這是哈薩克的阿斯塔納，一個高度現代化的城市，實際上十年前就超越了舊金山。阿斯塔納的成長速度驚人，住宅建設量是舊金山的一百倍。如果這兩座城市是新創公司，藍線顯然會壓倒紅線。這說明新城市的建設是可能的，而且在我們有生之年就能完成。The second point is, you can start thinking about China's performance, for example, in a completely different way—not just in terms of its tech companies, but with cities like Shanghai and Shenzhen having their own valuations. Third, you can also think about building new cities. For example, this is Astana in Kazakhstan, a highly modern and high-tech city. It actually surpassed San Francisco ten years ago. Astana's growth rate is massive; it's building housing units at a hundred times the rate of San Francisco. If these were two startups, the blue line would obviously crush the red line. This shows that building new cities is possible, and it can be done in our lifetime.
阿斯塔納在1990年代末只有約三十萬人口，後來成為哈薩克首都。它有點像北方的杜拜，而且不只阿斯塔納，哈薩克還在建設一座叫Alao的城市，這是全球第一個加密貨幣城市，會把阿斯塔納的經驗和加密產業結合在一起。本週五（10月9日）Network State大會上你會聽到更多相關內容。所以你可以用城市來計算，不只是公司或幣。Astana was a city of about three hundred thousand people in the late 1990s, then became the capital of the country. It's kind of like a northern Dubai, and it's not just Astana—Kazakhstan is also building a city called Alao, the first crypto city in the world, so it'll take a lot of Astana's experience and combine it with crypto in one place. You'll hear a lot more about this at the Network State conference this Friday, October 9th, right here. So you can count by cities, not just companies or coins.
很重要的一點是，這些城市不一定要集中在一個地點。你可以讓它成為一個網路型城市。怎麼解釋呢？像希爾頓在全球有一百萬張床，這就像一個分散在世界各地、人口一百萬的城市，不只有床，還有辦公室、餐廳等設施。這是不是很像未來的網路城市？它不必全都在同一個地方。An important part here is that you don't necessarily need that city to be in one place. You can make it a networked city. How do I explain that? Well, Hilton actually has a million beds around the world, which is like a city of a million people but distributed, and it doesn't just have beds, but also offices, restaurants, and other things. So is that what a networked city would look like? It doesn't have to be all in one place.
雲端優先、實體其次：新型社群的運作邏輯
第二個核心概念：雲端優先，土地其次，但不是永遠不需要土地。網路是人類史上最受歡迎的事物，是我們都能感受到的力量，但我們常忽略它是AI、加密貨幣、無人機等一切創新的基礎。如果你想建立新的加密社群，第一步就是雲端優先，土地最後。你應該先在線上建立社群，無論是Substack、Telegram群組還是其他方式，但動機必須比賺錢更深層。The second main concept: cloud first, land last, but not land never. The internet is simply the most popular thing in human history. It's a force we all recognize, but we ignore that it's the fundamental source for AI, cryptocurrencies, drones, and everything else. If you want to build a new crypto community, the first thing to think about is cloud first, land last. You should start your community online, whether it's via Substack, a Telegram chat, or any other means, but the motivation has to be deeper than just money.
下一個概念：臨時活動（pop-up）就是新型創業。什麼是臨時活動？可能像Cursive Café，或AngelList開的咖啡館，或Coinbase收購一個小鎮。臨時活動就是把雲端的東西短暫實體化，出現一陣子就結束。如果你對這個領域有興趣，第一步就是辦一場臨時活動，這比想像中困難得多，你得說服大家旅行、安排飲食住宿等，實際上後勤比你想像的複雜。The next concept: pop-up events are the new startups. What is a pop-up event? It could be like Cursive Café, or AngelList opening a café, or Coinbase acquiring a small town. A pop-up event means taking what's in the cloud and embodying it in the physical world for a limited time, so it appears for a while and then closes. If you're interested in this space, the first thing to do is host a pop-up event, and that's much harder than it sounds. You have to convince people to travel, handle food and lodging, and all these things. It's actually more logistically complicated than you might imagine.
但如果你做到了，就能邁向下一步。臨時活動就是新型創業。如果一切順利，你可以開始為永久據點建立候補名單，然後真的去租下房地產、讓人入住，接著再租更多房產、讓更多人入住。這很像Elon Musk當初用線上候補名單降低Tesla創業風險，先在線上集資，再到線下建設。線上集資、線下建設，雲端與土地並用。這樣你就能群眾募資打造自己的加密社群。But if you do it, then you can take the next step. Pop-up events are the new startups. If things go well, you can start building a waitlist for a permanent location, then actually start renting real estate and housing people, then rent more real estate and house more people. This is a lot like how Elon Musk de-risked building Tesla with an online waitlist, got capital online, then built in the physical world. Online capital, offline building—use the cloud and the land together. So you can crowdfund your own crypto community.
用現有資產打造網路國家
下一個概念：網路國家其實跟困難資產有關。很多人想把網路實體化時，會想買一座私人島嶼或一塊荒地，這就像科技圈買空白網域或新區塊鏈開始運作。但這不是處理房地產的正確方式，因為房地產非常昂貴。你應該做的是找現成但閒置或未充分利用的房產，重新裝修活化。其實有整個村莊、城鎮都在出售，你可以買下來。The next concept: the network state is actually about distressed assets. A lot of people who come into this space and think about embodying the internet in the physical world think about getting a private island or some abandoned land. That's how tech works—you take an empty domain name or a blank blockchain and start running it. But that's not the right way to deal with real estate, because real estate is extremely expensive. What you want to do instead is take already built real estate that's abandoned or underutilized, and then repaint and renovate it. There are entire villages and towns for sale that you can buy.
像日本因為少子化，有約九百萬棟空屋，這些空屋當然需要整修。你會發現它們狀況參差不齊，所以你必須做好心理準備，像新創公司在現實世界遇到各種問題一樣。你要習慣事情不會完美運作，現實世界會有真正的蟲害、害蟲、甚至水管結冰等問題。你需要有耐心、有開拓精神的人，不是追求奢華，而是想參與建設的人。For example, in Japan, due to a declining birth rate, there are about nine million empty homes. Of course, these empty homes need renovation. If you look at them, you'll find they're in varying states of disrepair. So you have to be prepared to do what startups do in the physical world as well as the digital world. You're used to the idea that things won't go perfectly in a startup—there will be bugs in the physical world. You also have to get used to the idea that not everything will go perfectly. There may be actual bugs, pests, and so on. There may be frozen pipes and things like that. You need patient, determined people with a pioneer mindset, not a luxury mindset.
這些人不是來追求奢華產品，就像新創員工不會只為Google福利而來。想打造這種先鋒社群的人，是為了建設體驗而來，就像Habitat for Humanity這種組織。你不是來住豪華度假村，而是來參與建設。如果你看看美國，很多大學都因經費短缺而關閉，像Magdalen College有129英畝正在出售。你可以想像這種校園會有些損壞，各種狀況都有可能發生。They're not looking for a luxury product, just like a startup employee isn't looking for Google perks. The person who wants to build one of these pioneering communities wants to be there for the building experience, like Habitat for Humanity. You're not coming to live in a luxury resort, you're coming to build. If you look at this in America, for example, all these colleges are shutting down, running out of money. Magdalen College, 129 acres, is up for sale. If you think about what's involved in that campus, obviously it's going to be in some state of disrepair. There will be all kinds of things.
開創型社群與東西方差異
你知道，像修剪灌木這種事，還有各種類似的事情都會出現，所以你需要一群在社群裡願意動手、具備開創者心態的人，而不是只想享受的人。You know, things like trimming bushes and all kinds of similar things will be there, so you need a group of people in your community who take initiative and think like pioneers, not with a luxury mindset.
這種心態在東方比較常見，因為中國、印度、阿聯酋的人們都親眼見證了從無到有建造城市的過程。Well, and you know, this is something more common in the East because people in China, India, and the UAE have all seen cities built from nothing.
西方的人們對這種經驗比較陌生，但舉個例子，比如說，我記得是深圳還是上海？其實我應該記得，但那是一座中國城市，1984年和2023年的對比。People in the West, as you know, are less familiar with this, but for example, I think, was it Shenzhen or Shanghai? Actually, I should remember, but it's a Chinese city in 1984 and then in 2023.
這就是所謂的前後對比。你想成為上面那群人，而不是下面那群人。上面那群人是建造這座城市的人。That's the before and after. And you want to be like the people at the top, not the people at the bottom. The people at the top are the ones who built that city.
下面的人也很棒，但他們只是住在那裡而已，對吧？能夠建立新興社群的人就像上面那群人，他們能從一片空白或荒蕪中看見潛力。The people at the bottom are great, but they just live there, right? The kind of people who build a nascent community are like those at the top, who can look at something empty or barren or undeveloped and see the potential in it.
西方的過去與現代社群挑戰
在西方世界，這種精神曾經存在，但那是過去的事，在邊疆時代、西部拓荒時代。現代的西方人更習慣於城市已經建好，較少習慣於維修、水電等基礎工作。In the Western world, that existed, but it was in the past, in the frontier era, in the Wild West era, okay. So today, Westerners are more used to their city being fully built, and they're less accustomed to maintenance, plumbing, electrical work, and so on.
但其實，從零開始動手做這些實體工作，是有勇氣和價值的。如果你搬到一個社群並開始修繕東西，這會帶來正面的影響。But there's courage, and there's good in having to do those physical things from scratch if you move into a community and start fixing things.
社群的有機同心圈結構
下一個概念：有機同心圈。如果你創建一個新興社群，你會發現有一個核心團隊，就像核心開發者一樣。So the next concept: organically concentric circles. If you go and start a nascent community, you'll find there's a core team, similar to core developers.
你會有長期持有者，他們像是狂熱分子或長期投資人，還有像持幣者一樣的成員，以及訪客等等。You have your long-term holders who are like fanatics or long-term investors, your members who are like token holders, then you have visitors and so on.
這些群體之間的投入程度會有不同，互動層級也會不同。不是每個人都會一起建設社群，就像不是每個人都會用同樣的精力建設 Solana、Ethereum 或 Bitcoin。You'll find you have different levels of commitment between these groups, and you'll have different levels of interaction there. So not everyone will be building the community together, just as not everyone is building Solana or Ethereum or Bitcoin with the same amount of energy.
有些人只是持幣者，有些人是狂熱分子，他們會大量宣傳，還有些人是核心開發者，或是非常活躍的成員。參與度會有連續光譜。Some people will be token holders, some will be fanatics who are like holders but evangelize a lot, others will be core developers, and others will be very active.
很多人有自己的正職，但同時也會持有代幣，這代表他們還是希望你們好，對吧？So you'll have a continuum of participation in the project. Many people will have day jobs, but they'll still also, you know, be token holders.
社群的方向與使命
下一個重點：選擇方向與使命。當你創建新興社群時，不能只是等著空投，不能只是為了錢。So the next concept: choosing direction and mission. When you start a nascent community, it can't just be waiting for an airdrop. It has to be more than just money.
它可以是素食社群，也可以是語言沉浸式社群，總之必須有一個存在的理由，一個明確的使命。It could be a vegan community, it could be like a language immersion community. There has to be a reason for its existence, a specific reason for it.
我不是說你需要全新的十誡，但就像我在《The Network State》書裡提到的，你需要一條核心信念。I'm not saying you need a new Ten Commandments, but as I explained in my book The Network State, you need one commandment.
你需要一個你認為世界上有問題的面向。現代人花很多時間在網路上，所以你可以創建一個離線村落，例如每天晚上九點就斷網，這在中國大學已經在做了。You need a specific aspect of the world you think is broken. People spend a lot of time online, so you could create an offline village, where the internet cuts off at 9pm every day. They already do this in Chinese universities.
還有其他各種可能。你可以創建無碳水社群，或其他各種新點子。重點是你要挑選真正熱情、願意在現實世界打造這個社群的人，就像長壽社群一樣。They turn off the internet in the evenings to make sure people don't browse too much. There are other kinds of things. You could create a carb-free community. There are many different ideas for what your nascent community could be, but the concept is like the one commandment: you want to pick people who are really passionate about this and want to build it in the physical world, like a longevity community.
社群篩選與正當性
這就像大學的運作方式。大學有入學論文，會篩選學生。其實大學就是一種有選擇性入會的私人俱樂部。如果大學這樣做是正當的，那新興社群這樣做當然也正當。That's another good example, and this is like how colleges work. Colleges have admissions essays. Colleges are actually picking people. It's like a private club where you pick members. And if colleges are legitimate because they're private clubs with selective admissions, then certainly your nascent community is legitimate too.
社群即服務的商業模式
下一個概念：社群即服務。這些社群的商業模式是什麼？即使一開始不是以財務為主，還是要有商業模式。我稱之為社群即服務。The next concept: community as a service. So, what's the business model for these things? Even if it's not primarily financial, what's the business model? It's what I call community as a service.
你當然可以嘗試其他方式，但基本上就是提供像 Google 校園那樣的服務，採訂閱制。包含餐飲、住宿、健身房、活動等，這就像我們在 Network School 做的事。You can try other things, of course, but the idea is that you basically provide a Google campus as a subscription. Food, housing, gym, events, all that kind of stuff. That's what we do at our Network School.
這其實是一種垂直整合，可以壓低成本，因為你大量採購。你就像 Costco，但是加密貨幣界的 Costco，只是這次是在現實世界。When you do that, you're doing a kind of vertical integration of something, and you can lower costs because you buy in bulk. You're like Costco, but Costco for crypto, right? That's it, but in the physical world.
社群即服務，就是這些新興社群的商業模式。Community as a service. That's the business model for these nascent communities.
社群、身份與安全的統合
下一個概念：身份就是社群，社群就是安全，安全就是領域。當你創建新興社群時，你要統合數位與實體的邊界。The next concept: identity is community, community is security, and security is territory. So when you start a nascent community, you want to unify the digital and physical borders.
例如，你有一個身份、NFT 或代幣，成員需要這些才能進入你的數位社群，比如用 Ethereum 登入或進入受限的線上社群。For example, you have some identity, or an NFT, or a token your members hold, and then they need that to actually enter your digital community, like logging in with Ethereum or entering a token-gated online community.
你也可以把這套應用到現實世界。成員可能需要持有那個代幣、NFT 或質押，來取代臉部辨識或傳統身份驗證。這其實就像大學校園或國家的運作方式。And you can apply that in the physical world too, where they need that token or that coin or that staking to get past facial recognition or their digital identity, right? And that's just like how campuses work, how countries work.
基本上，你有一個俱樂部，數位身份、數位邊界和實體邊界三者一致。你需要這樣做，因為身份就是社群，社群就是安全，安全就是地理範圍。But basically you have a club where digital identity, digital borders, and physical borders all match up, right? So you're unifying both sides, and the reason you need that is that identity is community, community is security, and security is geographic scope.
誰能進入你的社群，決定了他們屬於哪個社群，無論是你的 NFT 社群還是其他。安全性則是他們能否通過檢查點，能否進入你的地理範圍。Who is in is what determines which community they belong to, whether they belong to your NFT community or something like that. Then security is, can they get past the checkpoint? And then, are they allowed to be in your geographic scope?
舉例來說，如果你的家 99% 的時間是你的，但有 1% 的時間任何人都能進來，那就不算是你的家。所以你真的需要有些空間只屬於社群成員，否則這個社群就不是真正的社群，你需要一些實體空間。One way to think about this: imagine if your house was your house 99% of the time, but 1% of the time random people could enter, then it's not your house, right? So you actually need to have some locations that are only occupied by community members, otherwise your community isn't a real community. You need some physical space.
潛在回報與社群激勵
下一個概念：潛在回報補償現有效用。當你有一個小型社交網路或加密貨幣時，現有效用很低。The next concept: potential returns compensate for utility. When you have a small social network or a small cryptocurrency, the utility is very low.
但像 WhatsApp 或 Bitcoin 剛起步時，能夠補償這點的，是潛在的未來回報。你可以夢想 Bitcoin 有多大。The thing that compensated for that, for example, in the early days of WhatsApp or early days of Bitcoin, was the potential returns. At one Satoshi, you could dream of how big Bitcoin could get.
如果你看 Satoshi 或 Hal Finney 早期的貼文，他們都在討論：如果這變得重要，價值可能會很高。這就是你可以用來把未來價值提前到現在的槓桿，讓未來成為現實。If you look at Satoshi's first post or Hal Finney's early posts, you'll see them talking about: hey, maybe if this becomes important, it could be worth a lot. That's the leverage you can use to bring some potential value from the future to the present to make the future real.
這有點像終結者電影，但是反過來。你把未來的價值帶回來創造它。即使只有 0.1% 機會能創造一兆美元的結果，今天也值一百萬美元。你可以用這一百萬去創造一兆美元，這就是股權的本質。It's like the Terminator movie, but in reverse. You bring value back to create it. If you have a 0.1% chance of a trillion-dollar outcome, that's worth a million dollars today. So you use that million to create a trillion, right? That's the essence of equity.
你可以把這套用在加密貨幣、網路公司、數位貨幣。我認為也可以用在加密社群，發行加密股權，然後用它來把未來實現到現在。So you can do that for cryptocurrencies, for internet companies, for digital currencies. I think you can do that for crypto communities as well, where we issue crypto equity and then use it to instantiate the future in the present.
敬請期待，十月來這裡，也許我會再多說一些。So stay tuned. Come in October here, and maybe I'll say more about this.
衡量社群規模的新指標
下一個概念：如何衡量這些實體社群的規模？我們有 CoinMarketCap，指標是幣的數量乘以單價。那現實世界的對應指標是什麼？我認為是人月數，也就是社群人數乘以他們待的月數。The next concept: what's the metric for these physical communities in the digital world? We have CoinMarketCap, whose metric is number of coins times price per coin. What's the equivalent metric in the physical world? I argue the metric is human-months, the number of people in your community times the number of months they've spent in your community.
也就是規模乘以時間。時間其實就是另一種投資的表現方式，就像幣的數量乘以單價一樣。人月數可以概括人口普查的概念。So it's size times duration. Duration is another way to express investment. It's like number of coins times price per coin. Human-months generalizes the concept of a census.
傳統人口普查假設人是固定在國家裡一輩子的，但現在有數位遊牧民族，他們一年可能有三到五個月在你的社群，這就等於 25% 的人生。In the US Constitution, the census assumes a person is stable, meaning fixed and locked inside a nation-state for life. But today we have digital nomads, moving between places, so if they spend three or five human-months a year in your nascent community, that's a lot. That's 25% of their life if it's three human-months.
所以累積人月數是一個很有用的指標。如果你有身份驗證和位置驗證，這很難造假。我認為這是我們開始分類這些新興社群的方法。So accumulating human-months is a useful metric. It's hard to fake if you have proof of identity and proof of location, and that's how I think we can start to classify these nascent communities.
非暴力抗爭與數位遊牧部落
最後一個概念，很多人會對我說：Balaji，你太天真了，這些 Network State 沒有軍隊，國家會消滅你們等等。我很清楚國家有軍隊，但 Google 和 Bitcoin 都在沒開一槍的情況下達到兆美元規模。Final concept, you know, a lot of people say to me: Oh, Balaji, you're so naive. These network states don't have armies. Nation-states will wipe you out, etc. I'm well aware that nation-states have armies, but Google reached trillions of dollars without firing a shot, Bitcoin reached trillions of dollars without firing a shot.
我現在可以用一句話總結：軍隊的非暴力替代方案就是流動性。你可以選擇有組織、有計畫地撤離，而不是無謂的戰鬥。And now I've summed it up in one sentence: the nonviolent alternative to the army is mobility. Instead of a pointless battle, you can do an organized, planned retreat.
如果你有一個數位遊牧部落，能夠集體遷移，這其實就是美國的建立方式。清教徒、技術人來到新世界，集體出走其實是一個非常強大的工具。If you have a community of digital nomads, that's a digital nomad tribe, and if that tribe can move collectively, the group exit is actually what built the United States. That's what the Puritans did, the technologists who came to the New World. Group exit is actually a very powerful tool.
如果條件不合，我們就和別人合作，這正是我們做的事。我們收到十個國家的邀請，選了最好的，搬到薩爾瓦多，而且非常快地完成。If you don't give us the terms we want, we'll contract with someone else, which is what we did. We got offers from ten countries, picked the best, moved to El Salvador, and did it very quickly.
你可以迅速把一群技術人帶到新國家，這種力量已經被證明存在。這在一年前還只是理論，現在已經成為現實。So you can simply and very quickly move a group of technologists to a new country, and we've proven that this power already exists. It was theoretical a year ago, now it's a reality.
現在有很多國家在爭取像你們這樣的人口。你們不只是個體有影響力，作為集體更有影響力。這就像把個體的獨立性重新組合成一個更大的集體實體。There are many countries out there competing to attract a population just like you. You have a lot of leverage not just as independent individuals, but as an even more independent collective entity. It's like decoupling the independent individual and reassembling it into a more independent collective entity.
我們現在和 Costa Republic 合作，沒有衝突，只是搬遷而已，拿到更好的條件，對方也很歡迎我們。We're now working with Costa Republic, where we didn't get into conflicts, we just moved, got a much better offer, and are working with a group that really welcomes us.
想了解更多，歡迎 10 月 9 日來 Marina Bay Sands 參加 Never State 2026 大會，或上 nsrconference.com。Token2049 參與者還有折扣碼。謝謝大家，等下會有開放式對談，謝謝。To learn more, come to the Never State 2026 conference on October 9 here at Marina Bay Sands, and visit nsrconference.com. If you're a Token2049 participant, you can get a discount code. Thank you very much, and we'll start an open dialogue shortly. Thank you.
