Praxis, a city-building business sponsored by Peter Thiel, is building a crypto-powered city utopia. The project has acquired $15 million in Series A funding from a number of crypto venture firms.
According to the company website, Dryden Brown of New York University and Charlie Callinan of Boston College co-founded Praxis, formerly Bluebook Cities in 2019, with the purpose of “creating the city-cryptostate to actualize a more dynamic future.”
Praxis seeks to move away from “artificially scarce metaverses” in order to create a city-state based on “shared ideals” rather than “Industrial Age labour market principles.” According to reports, the cryptocurrency-run city will place a strong emphasis on practical architecture and environmental technology.
Praxis has yet to obtain a large land purchase on which to develop their metropolis, however, it is rumoured that they are considering a location near the Mediterranean. Dryden Brown, a co-founder, said in a YouTube interview:
“We are not trying to be a total sovereign nation or something like that. We want to partner with a government and build something really cool that works with us and works for them and is mutually beneficial.”
Leading crypto VCs involved in the fundraising
Investors in this round include Apollo Projects and Robot Ventures, in addition to Paradigm, Alameda Research, and Three Arrows Capital.
Balaji Srinivasan, a digital entrepreneur, and the Winklevoss twins were among the investors in Praxis’ seed round, which raised $4.2 million late last year.
In November of last year, Paradigm dethroned a16z as the world’s largest crypto venture capital fund, raising $2.5 billion for its “New Venture Fund.”
