---
title: a network state starts online. a nature state starts on the land.
canonical_url: https://ensurance.app/guide/what-is-a-nature-state
markdown_url: https://ensurance.app/guide/what-is-a-nature-state.md
subtitle: "cloud first, land last, or land first. what is already built, what is not, and what we want to build with others"
category: philosophy
---

# a network state starts online. a nature state starts on the land.

*cloud first, land last, or land first. what is already built, what is not, and what we want to build with others*

"A network state is a highly aligned online community with a capacity for collective action that crowdfunds territory around the world and eventually gains diplomatic recognition from pre-existing states." That is Balaji Srinivasan's definition in one sentence. Read in order: community, capacity, territory, recognition. Cloud first, land last.

Much of it is right. People can find belonging online long before they share a street, and institutions can be designed instead of inherited. Primavera De Filippi and Jessy Kate Schingler call one version **coordi-nations**: communities that cooperate across borders without replacing existing states. De Filippi and Felix Beer describe **network nations** that "govern their own affairs across borders without any territorial claims." Vitalik Buterin wrote in 2022 that he wants "to see startup societies along these kinds of visions exist," while worrying that it may serve only "those wealthy enough to move and desirable enough to attract." In December 2025 he wrote that getting durable physical hubs right is "the next important step" for these communities. No project has yet reached the recognition Balaji describes; [from popup city to places that fund each other](/guide/from-popup-city-to-places-that-fund-each-other?from=guide) weighs what popup cities have shown.

## every community still drinks from a watershed

A hub sits somewhere: on a watershed it did not build, among people who were there first. So start there.

A **nature state** is a community organized around keeping a living place alive. It starts from the place itself: a water source, a habitat, the people already caring for it. Then it builds money, work, homes, rights and a network of places around that care. It makes no claim to sovereignty: "state" here is a question about institutions and belonging inside the countries and laws that already exist.

The watershed, the forest, the meadow and the species living there exist whether or not anyone buys a certificate. A nature state is a way of organizing money, work and belonging around keeping them alive, and [*ensurance*](/?from=guide) is part of how that gets paid for, not the thing itself.

:::johnson
**a network state is cloud first, land last. a nature state is land first, and the land is not for sale to its members.**

Members can fund a place, work for it and belong to it. In the design, no instrument they hold carries a claim on the land.

[build it with us →](/solutions/onchain-groups?from=guide&topic=nature-state)
:::

## why start from the living place

Parts of the economy make their money from things once they stop living: the felled tree, the drained wetland. Land trusts, water funds and Indigenous and local stewards already keep living ones going. We want more of the money to fund that: the forest standing, the wetland holding water.

That is not a bet on collapse. Healthy places and good work are worth having in a better world too. Whether demand for them rises is a hypothesis to test place by place, not a forecast of land prices, token prices or income.

A living place is already someone's home, farm, habitat or water supply. Existing and customary rights come first, as [community land rights come first](/guide/community-land-rights-come-first?from=guide) sets out, and a nature state is not a fence around a beautiful place for the people who can pay.

## what is already built

Some of the plumbing runs on Base.

- A named natural asset can carry a [certificate](/specific?from=guide), priced in USDC or EURC among the supported currencies. The primary sale pays the recipient that certificate names, in the same transaction, as [paid on arrival](/guide/paid-on-arrival?from=guide) shows.
- Splits, swappers and streams route a funded balance on to other accounts and people, as [proceeds pay all the time](/guide/proceeds-pay-all-the-time?from=guide) and [proceeds](/proceeds?from=guide) show.
- [Groups](/groups?from=guide), namespaces such as `.ensurance` and `.basin`, and [agents](/agents?from=guide) with their own tokenbound accounts let a place, a purpose or a people hold an account.
- [Coins](/general?from=guide) and [pools](/pools?from=guide) give a place or a theme money that trades. Receiving a coin is not converting it; conversion needs a market.

As of November 2026, scheduled crew payroll does not exist. The certificate distribution engine is a draft, and no automatic holder distribution has been paid. No parcel is at entrust yet, and instruments have no claim on entrusted land; [every instrument stands on a real asset](/guide/every-instrument-stands-on-a-real-asset?from=guide) gives the dated status. There is no housing, booking or residence system, no lodge and no bank. No entity, membership, citizenship or governance for a nature state has been formed.

## what we want to build

Each row is a post in this series. Nothing in the third column is live.

| layer | already built | what we want to build | who could build it with us |
|---|---|---|---|
| **money** | Accounts for named places; certificates priced in USDC or EURC; coins and pools | [A nature bank](/guide/what-a-nature-bank-could-be?from=guide): local currencies, and a reserve of living capacity beside a reserve of money. No charter, no deposits | Bioregional currency groups, credit unions, community lenders |
| **work** | Sale proceeds reach the named recipient (not payroll); splits and streams route funded balances | [Scheduled pay in real money](/guide/the-people-who-keep-a-place-alive-should-be-able-to-live-there?from=guide), with the people keeping a place among the best paid | Land trusts, conservancies, cooperatives |
| **homes** | Nothing | [Homes for the people who keep a place alive](/guide/the-people-who-keep-a-place-alive-should-be-able-to-live-there?from=guide), with tenure that does not hang on a job or a token price | Community land trusts, housing funders |
| **place** | Natural-asset records and certificates; no parcel at entrust yet | [A village planned from what not to build](/guide/a-village-that-starts-with-what-not-to-build?from=guide): water source and habitat first, homes on the right ground | Landowners, conservation developers, ecovillage founders |
| **rights** | No token grants access, tenancy, title or control | [Separate rights](/guide/one-token-cant-be-your-home-your-vote-and-your-visit?from=guide) for protection, residence, visits, money and voice | Onchain groups, booking and identity builders |
| **network** | A funded balance can be routed to another account | [A network of places that fund each other](/guide/from-popup-city-to-places-that-fund-each-other?from=guide), including a source parcel nobody visits | Popup-city organizers, network-nation builders, bioregional groups |

Pay means real money people can spend; a token allocation or a nice view is not a wage. And the people who keep a place alive should be among the highest paid anywhere, an ambition rather than a description of today, with housing, food and access added to that pay, never in place of it. [The people keeping nature alive should make a lot of money](/guide/the-people-keeping-nature-alive-should-make-a-lot-of-money?from=guide) makes the case; [pay the land, pay the people](/guide/pay-the-land-pay-the-people?from=guide) sets out the system underneath.

## build it with us

Network-state builders know how to gather people and ship tools. Land stewards know a place and its limits. Foundations can fund the slow middle no market pays for yet. You bring the community and the tools; the place brings the living asset; we bring accounts and payment rails.

If your onchain community wants roots, start at [onchain groups](/solutions/onchain-groups?from=guide&topic=nature-state). If you already keep a place, start at [land stewards](/solutions/land-stewards?from=guide&topic=nature-state). If you have an idea for the whole network, [suggest it](/general/create?mode=suggest&from=guide). Or [tell us what you would build](/contact?from=guide&topic=nature-state).

## frequently asked questions

### what is a nature state?

A nature state is a community organized around keeping a living place alive: its water source, its habitat and the people already caring for them.

### how is a nature state different from a network state?

A network state starts as an online community and acquires territory last. A nature state starts from a living place that is already someone's home and habitat, and, in the design, its members' instruments carry no claim on the land.

### is a nature state a country?

No. It makes no claim to sovereignty; "state" means institutions and belonging inside existing jurisdictions.

### is any of this live?

The accounts, certificates, splits, coins and pools are. Payroll, homes, a nature bank, entrusted land and any nature state entity are not.

## sources

[Balaji Srinivasan, "The Network State in One Sentence," *The Network State*](https://thenetworkstate.com/the-network-state-in-one-sentence) — The one-sentence definition

[Vitalik Buterin, "What do I think about network states?", July 13, 2022](https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2022/07/13/networkstates.html) — Support for startup societies; the concern that the model may serve "those wealthy enough to move and desirable enough to attract"

[Vitalik Buterin, "Let a thousand societies bloom," December 17, 2025](https://vitalik.eth.limo/general/2025/12/17/societies.html) — Getting hubs right as "the next important step"

[Primavera De Filippi and Jessy Kate Schingler, "Coordi-nations: a new institutional structure for global cooperation," June 13, 2023](https://blockchaingov.eu/coordi-nations-a-new-institutional-structure-for-global-cooperation/) — Coordi-nations as cooperation across borders

[Primavera De Filippi and Felix Beer, "Reclaiming sovereignty in the digital age," Network Nations](https://networknations.network/reclaiming-sovereignty/) — Network nations that govern "without any territorial claims"

## the series

1. [a network state starts online. a nature state starts on the land.](/guide/what-is-a-nature-state?from=guide) — **Read first:** What a nature state is, what is already built, and what we want to build with others
2. [what a nature bank could be](/guide/what-a-nature-bank-could-be?from=guide) — Accounts, currencies and reserves for a living place, and what is not a bank
3. [the people who keep a place alive should be able to live there](/guide/the-people-who-keep-a-place-alive-should-be-able-to-live-there?from=guide) — Real pay first, then a home that does not hang on a job or a token price
4. [a village that starts with what not to build](/guide/a-village-that-starts-with-what-not-to-build?from=guide) — One illustrative place: a protected core, homes on the right ground, a lodge that can fail safely
5. [one token can't be your home, your vote and your visit](/guide/one-token-cant-be-your-home-your-vote-and-your-visit?from=guide) — Separate rights for protection, residence, visits, money and voice
6. [from popup city to places that fund each other](/guide/from-popup-city-to-places-that-fund-each-other?from=guide) — A month-long city leaves; the watershed stays. An invitation to build the network