Bitcoin.com chairman Roger Ver has been named a duke of Joseon and has been awarded the position of minister of finance. Mark Karpelès, the former CEO of the defunct cryptocurrency exchange Mt. Gox, has received the same title and will serve as the minister of technology.
Joseon, a so-called ‘cyber nation-state,’ takes its name from a former Kingdom of Korea and claims to offer the opportunity to “run your business without archaic regulation.”
Besides inheriting the name, the ’empire’ of Joseon maintains the tradition of hereditary accession to the throne. The current ‘king’ is Andrew Lee who previously started a virtual private network provider called Private Internet Access. The last emperor died childless so Lee’s claim derives from the line of the brother of the last emperor.
Joseon, lacking the type of physical presence most nation-states rely on, has instead decided to use ‘denizenship’ instead of citizenship. The nation’s ‘whitepaper’ describes the concept as effectively creating a corporation that enables you to “bifurcate its identity and reputation from the physical person.”
It claims that this technique “legally creates a vehicle whereby actions can be taken on behalf of the person, within the domicile of Joseon, completely separating jurisdiction over the Person versus jurisdiction over the Denizen.”
Joseon further insists that “the jurisdictional sovereignty of Joseon within its cyber dominion is absolute.”
Joseon and Antigua and Barbuda have entered into an “Agreement of Peace, Amity and Commerce,” in which Antigua and Barbuda have entered into diplomatic relationships.
High praise from Roger Ver, AKA ‘Bitcoin Jesus.’
Read more: Did Justin Sun’s diplomatic immunity get revoked?
Joseon’s Cryptocurrency Mun
Joseon has a blockchain, which it says “renders certain bad behaviors nearly impossible.” This blockchain is used to manage Joseon’s currency Mun.
Along with the whitepaper, 2.4 trillion tokens were also issued. One-fifth of the supply was reserved for the government, one-twentieth for ‘officials,’ 65% for the ‘Ministry of Patronage,’ and just one-tenth for ‘Denizens.’
Ver and Karpeles are far from the only crypto figures to take on roles in various governments. Justin Sun was once the permanent Grenada ambassador to the World Trade Organization until he wasn’t, and Max Keiser serves as an advisor to El Salvador president Nayib Bukele.
