With Donald Trump’s recent announcement that the United States will launch its own crypto reserve, it now seems likely that other countries will follow suit, bringing cryptocurrencies into the very heart of the state and potentially adopting them as national tender. This move builds on a wider movement, such as El Salvador’s decision to make Bitcoin legal tender.

But could blockchain technologies go even further - not just reshaping existing institutions, but replacing the nation-state entirely? A wave of new projects are now working to create digitally native, opt-in states, governed by decentralised protocols and, in some cases, seeking to acquire land around the world to establish physical footholds.

Supporters argue that placing power in the hands of a few - whether elected or not - has long led to corruption and opacity. By contrast, blockchain offers the promise of transparent, rule-based systems coded to reflect the collective will of their digital citizens.

Is this the beginning of a new political reality or just another tech-bro fantasy? Could blockchain states rescue democracy from its decline, or offer a meaningful upgrade to meet the challenges of a rapidly changing digital world?