Blockchain governance system Bitnation came under the spotlight this week when its crowdsale was unexpectedly postponed. Its vending partner, concerned about a negative reaction from Australian policy makers, withdrew the day of the launch. Additional internal conflicts cast further doubt over the future of the project as a whole, and Cointelegraph reached out to managerial staff for further information.
However, notably absent from the earlier interview was Bitnation co-founder and CEO Susanne Tarkowski Tempelhof. Now, she speaks to Cointelegraph about the crowdsale, which despite many obstacles has launched, and focuses attention on the future prospects of Bitnation as a unique tool in cryptocurrency.
Tempelhof has already had an active career in supporting disruptive entities in the political realm. With a focus on the Middle East in particular, the firm foundations she gives to Bitnation’s potential is clear from her plans for the project, which is now advancing with as much determination as ever.
Cointelegraph: Bitnation has been increasingly active and vocal in the community over the past few months. What are the goals for the crowdsale campaign?
Susanne Tarkowski Tempelhof: The goals are twofold, one to fund the development, and second to make the process interactive. Community participation is very important for us, and this three months period of fundraising means the entire community can own shares in the DO, will see the development progressing live, be able to add their input on the Whitepaper and shape the development of the company, and more. It’s an outdrawn, interactive process designed for the community to be part of.
CT: The campaign was delayed for 2 days at the last minute due to some problems with regulatory reaction. Is everything set to go ahead as planned now?
STT: Yes, everything is set to go ahead as planned. We rebuilt the sales module from scratch, and it’s live now. Like every crowdsale there will be some technical issues ahead, which we will work on resolving as quickly as possible.
Some elements have been saying negative things about Bitnation publicly because we’re not incorporated in a government backed jurisdiction, which I find strange since the entire concept is based on being able to do all the things the government does via the blockchain, corporate incorporation on the blockchain being one of them.
Anyways, for the persons who publicly resigned and talked about it in media, the only thing I can say was that it was clearly not a project that was a good fit for them, and I wish them luck moving forward and joining other projects, and I hope they will find organizations which are more aligned to their expectations. I wish them all the best.
CT: What has been the reaction to the concept of a Blockchain governance system so far?
STT: The reaction have been overwhelmingly positive, but the concept also confuse some people, particularly people who are not used to think of the Bitcoin blockchain as a distributed public ledger, but rather as a currency. However, I think most people want to see this happen, because the current system of nation states oligopoly is clearly broken, and people are thrilled someone is stepping forward to make it happen.
CT: What are your plans for Bitnation's potential going forward should the crowdsale be a success?
STT: The most important is to 1. build the platform, and 2. empower the Ambassador Network to reach out to their community to actually implement it locally, where it’s needed the most. It’s an ambitious project, and it will take a long time before it reaches its full potential, maybe a decade or more, but it’s worth it to create a more open and fair world.
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