Liberland: a crypto dream or a risky bet on blockchain?

Justin Sun (Tron) has become the Prime Minister of the micronation Liberland — and now everyone remembers this small piece of land between Croatia and Serbia. It sounds like a joke, but there is a serious idea behind it: to build a state on the blockchain without taxes, bureaucracy, and borders.

What is really happening there?

The libertarian state, founded in 2015, has launched its own Liberland Dollar on Solana. The choice of platform is not accidental — Solana can process up to 65,000 transactions per second with a fee of only $0.00025. In comparison, with such costs, even microtransactions become viable.

The management system is fully decentralized: voting, citizenship, taxes — all on the blockchain. A passport can be obtained for $10 000 or by investing in development. Currently, 1,200 citizens are registered, but there are already over 735,000 applications.

What's the catch?

Liberland is recognized by exactly no one. Neither Croatia nor Serbia want to give up the disputed area — the land is located in the Danube floodplain and is often flooded. Attempts by people to get there end in arrest or detention. Even the founder Vit Jedlicka has been imprisoned for this multiple times.

There is no infrastructure, no physical presence. Essentially, this is an ecosystem on paper (, more precisely, on the blockchain ). Revenue for 2023 is $1.5 million, mainly from Bitcoin. A dangerous point: over 99% of the country's reserves are held in BTC. One crash — and the entire economy will collapse.

Is this a real revolution?

The model looks attractive for crypto-libertarians, but the reality is harsher. Without recognition from neighboring states, without physical territory, without infrastructure, this is more of an experimental DAO than a full-fledged state. San's participation gives the project weight in the crypto community — but it does not solve the main problem: how to build a nation when you are up against two countries and have no territory of your own?