“Farewell to Westphalia” Explores Blockchain as a Model for Post-Nation-State Governance
Zug, Switzerland, September 19th, 2025, Chainwire
Logos Press Engine has announced the release of “Farewell to Westphalia: Crypto Sovereignty and Post-Nation-State Governance”, a new book by Jarrad Hope and Peter Ludlow, available in print and online starting September 18. The publication examines the historical foundations of the modern nation-state and argues that its governance model, formalized in 1648, is no longer suited to contemporary digital realities. In its place, the authors introduce the concept of the “cyberstate”, a new political model enabled by blockchain technology and voluntary digital communities.
Jarrad Hope, Founder of Logos, a movement and technology stack dedicated to preserving digital freedom, and Peter Ludlow, Director of the Research Institute for Philosophy and Technology, are releasing their radical collaborative project, Farewell to Westphalia: Crypto Sovereignty and Post-Nation-State Governance, on September 16th. Published by the Logos Press Engine, the book argues that the modern nation state has become obsolete, with its successor lying in a surprising place: the blockchain.
Hope and Ludlow envision a future belonging to cyberstates and communities organised around blockchain, new political entities tailored to the digital age, and the increasingly global issues we face today. These entities leverage blockchain technology, the same infrastructure supporting Bitcoin, to enshrine trust, accountability, and civil liberties, while reducing corruption and the power of unelected intermediaries at all levels of human coordination.
The concept of a cyberstate, first introduced by early cypherpunk communities, is now receiving renewed attention due to recent advancements in blockchain technology. The authors define them as “online communities”, which “carry out functions usually associated with traditional nation states”. They might provide security, assist with healthcare, sponsor arts and culture, or support business through negotiating trade agreements and encouraging business development.
Unlike nation states, however, the book explains that cyberstates should be organised around shared values and voluntary membership rather than “arbitrary political boundaries”. They describe them as “geographically unencumbered” with a cyberstate’s territory defined by “its footprint in cyberspace”–“unlimited in scope and scale”.
Furthermore, and most radically, cyberstates would conduct all governance activities using blockchain technology, a shared, digital ledger permanently recording information across a network of computers. Just as anyone can view the full history of cryptocurrency transactions on such a ledger, so too would all votes, policies, and communications undertaken by a cyberstate be viewable on one too, ensuring complete transparency.
“Governance, whether it comes in the form of public governments or other forms of human governance, is absolutely critical to every aspect of our lives. The trouble is that it often seems to be broken”, the authors write in the book’s opening pages. However, for Hope and Ludlow, “crypto shines a bright light on activities that today take place behind curtains and in smoke-filled rooms with little to no accountability”, providing the “tools that make government activity transparent and immutable and our personal business personal and private.”- Hope and Ludlow.
“Farewell to Westphalia makes it crystal clear that the nation-state is no longer the best governance system for today’s digital society. More important than formulating the problem is to develop an alternative societal governance system that serves citizens, and this is exactly the main strength of the book. It imagines a future society built on blockchain technology, creating what is desperately needed today: a human society.” – Bob de Wit, author of Society 4.0 and Emeritus Professor of Strategic Leadership at Nyenrode Business University.
“It’s a compelling manifesto on the future of governance. A critique of the nation-state and a visionary look into blockchain-based political systems. It’s mind boggling how well-researched and multidisciplinary it is.” – Frederico Ast (Kleros Founder).
The collaboration of these two foundational voices in post-nation-state theory is dedicated to Julian Assange and the memory of pioneering developer and activist Hal Finney. As such, Farewell to Westphalia is steeped in cypherpunk and hacktivist culture, establishing itself as an essential text for the future of such ideals. It demands serious consideration from anyone interested in the intersection of technology, politics, and human freedom.
As governments worldwide grapple with declining public trust and the challenges of governing in an increasingly digital world, Farewell to Westphalia offers a timely and provocative roadmap for the future. Hope and Ludlow’s vision of blockchain-powered communities and cyberstates goes further than theoretical speculation, marking out a blueprint for a future where communities seeking alternatives to traditional governance structures can build new networks that serve their needs. Readers can learn more at https://logos.co/farewell-to-westphalia
Farewell to Westphalia will be available in print and online on September 18th, marking a pivotal contribution to ongoing conversations about governance in the digital age. It is published by Logos Press Machine and will be licensed under Creative Commons to encourage free remixing, redistribution, translation, and copying, with attribution to the authors.
Readers can learn more at https://logos.co/farewell-to-westphalia
About Jarrad Hope
Jarrad Hope is a pioneering developer in blockchain technology, as well as being one of the earliest contributors to Ethereum; he has since founded Logos to build digital systems to protect civil liberties, digital freedom, and practically support the building of future cyberstates.
About Peter Ludlow
Peter Ludlow is a philosopher specialising in linguistics, digital technologies, and virtual communities. He edited the classic MIT Press anthology Crypto Anarchy, Cyberstates, and Pirate Utopias (2001), which explored the early political structures emerging on the internet in the 1990s as laboratories for new societies and governance.
About Logos
Logos describes itself as “an open source movement to create a self-sovereign network state”. It provides a decentralised technology stack that enables the formation of autonomous digital territories. Logos embeds privacy directly into its technology, ensuring transactions and governance remain censorship-resistant and confidential. In doing so, Logos is working towards the cypherpunk vision of enshrining user sovereignty and privacy in technology by default.