A crypto “smart city” could become a reality in Nevada’s desert, as a blockchain firm applied to make it possible. The investment company asked the state of Nevada to form a local government in Storey County.
Crypto City Aims to Host 33 Million Square Feet of Commercial Space
According to a report published by the Associated Press, Blockchains LLC wants to build the crypto city within its 67,000 acres of land located in Reno’s east. But the application is not limited to Blockchains LLC.
The firm’s CEO, Jeffrey Berns, wants that local authorities grant other companies the green light to do similar projects in the state.
Per the company’s CEO, if they get the approval, the firm will establish its own laws, as they’ll be granted power on building schools and even law enforcement.
The crypto city also expects to deploy an economy based on digital currencies, where residents could purchase goods and pay for services via crypto assets.
However, they don’t want to limit the project to an economy’s digitalization. In fact, the smart city aims to record financial statements, medical records, and personal data on the blockchain.
The city will be located 12 miles east of Reno. The proposal also aims to build 15,000 homes starting from 2022, if the firm gets the approval.
For the long term, precisely within 75 years, Blockchains LLC would like to build 33 million square feet of commercial and industrial space.
Berns commented on the idea that Nevada changes its legal framework to allow “innovation zones” in the state:
We bought 70,000 acres of land in the county. What did they think we were going to do? (…) For us to be able to take risks and be limber, nimble and figure things out like you do when you’re designing new products, that’s not how government works. So why not let us just create a government that lets us do those things?
Nevada Governor Already Discussed the Idea of ‘Innovation Zones’
Although, Ben Kieckhefer, a blockchain-friendly Nevada Republican senator didn’t go into in-depth details on Blockchains LLC proposal, he said the following:
I don’t know enough yet to say whether I’m comfortable with this as the next step or not. But, look, it’s a big idea, and Nevada has been built on big ideas, so let’s hear it out.
The “innovation zones” mentioned by Berns are not a new concept in Nevada, at least within the local political sphere. The state’s governor Steve Sisolak highlighted the idea during his State of the State address on January 19, 2021, to “diversify the economy” in a post-pandemic era.
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