This edition covers our upcoming events in Próspera and Las Vegas, a new book making the case for a Free City at Guantánamo Bay, and an anonymous programmer working to build a second internet… on bitcoin nodes.
The Free Cities Conference comes to Próspera this September
Free Cities Foundation Chairman, Titus Gebel
The 2026 Free Cities Conference takes place in Próspera, Roatán from September 3 to 6—the first time the event has been held inside a real, functioning Free City. This year’s theme is “Step Inside”: attendees will walk the streets of Próspera—recently named the world’s freest jurisdiction by the Staatenlos Freedom Ranking—and meet the entrepreneurs and residents who have built it. For those who want to experience two Free Cities in one trip, an optional Ciudad Morazán excursion is also available on September 2. (Sign up here: morazanexcursion.carrd.co.)
The program will feature keynotes from industry titans including Titus Gebel, Erick Brimen, Patri Friedman, and Mark Lutter. Alongside the Honduran zones where the event is hosted, attendees will get to hear from other leading Free City projects from across the world, including Veritas Villages in Central America, CryptoCity in Venezuela, Meridia in Texas, and the New Hampshire Free State Project.
Don’t miss Joe Quirk’s 2026 keynote on how to make seasteads legal
Seasteading will also feature prominently: Joe Quirk, Mason, Chad Elwartowski, and Mitchell Suchner will bring the latest updates from across the industry, and maritime lawyers will join to discuss how seasteads could be made legal and internationally protected. There will also be sessions from world-leading experts on expat life and flag theory including Mikkel Thorup, Francisco Litvay, Rafael Lima, and Chris Dabiri.
Mikkel Thorup will join us again in 2026.
Optional pre-conference activities—site tours, scuba diving, a boat tour, beach volleyball, and golf—are available from September 1 to 3. And it is worth remembering that the conference itself takes place on the beautiful tropical island of Roatán: sun, beaches, outstanding food and drink, and a genuine taste of island life are all part of the package. Tickets start at $259 and are available at freecitiesconference.com.
Recently released images of new construction underway in Próspera
Infinita Startup Week: make a week of it inside Próspera
Our friends at Infinita—a Próspera-based startup hub—are arranging Infinita Startup Week on the days either side of the main conference, and it is well worth adding to your trip. For those who want an extended stay and a deeper look at what makes Próspera tick, from its legal environment to its startup culture, this is the event for you.
Activities run August 31 to September 3 and again on September 6 and 7, wrapping neatly around the conference itself. The week features workshops, founder sessions, ecosystem tours, and community events, all set inside Próspera—designed for founders, investors, and anyone curious about what it actually looks like to operate inside one of the world’s most advanced jurisdictions. Tickets start from $400. Full details at freecitiesconference.com/infinita-week.
Note: Infinita Startup Week is an independently organized event. Tickets to the Free Cities Conference are purchased separately.
First U.S. meetup: Las Vegas, July 10
The Free Cities Foundation is hosting its first-ever in-person meetup in the United States next Friday, July 10, at The Front Yard in Las Vegas (8:30–10:30 PM). Organized by Mailyn Salabarria, the evening will bring together entrepreneurs, investors, and anyone curious about the future of governance—with the launch of A Country That Builds providing a fitting centerpiece for the conversation. Admission is free, but places are limited and advance registration is required. Register here.
Alex Voss makes the case for a Free City at Guantánamo Bay
Guantánamo Bay carries strong associations, but Alex Voss thinks its future could look very different from its past. In A Country That Builds, he argues that the base’s largely idle landmass represents a genuine opportunity: a Free City—low-tax, lightly regulated, governed under American rule of law—ninety miles from Florida. Drawing on the histories of Hong Kong, Singapore, Dubai, and other jurisdictions that turned overlooked or contested coastlines into places people actually want to live and work, Voss makes the case that America can do something similar with a site that has, so far, mostly been a liability. Pick up a copy here.
Free Cities Podcast: mesh networks, people problems & the end of the progressive era
The Free Cities Podcast covers the people, projects, and arguments that matter to the Free Cities community. Our three most recent episodes are worth your time.
The standout is Episode 188, featuring Polycarp Nakamoto—the anonymous figure behind Lab 484, a research lab and cluster of startups in Austin, Texas building what he calls Web 5: a second internet running peer-to-peer on bitcoin nodes, owned by nobody and run by everybody. Timothy visits Poly’s community compound to explore whether it is possible to rebuild the internet from scratch on what Poly considers the only genuinely decentralized digital infrastructure we have.
Episode 187 brings in Daniel Thompson of Noma Collective, who argues that the real bottleneck facing new city projects is neither law nor land, but people—specifically families, whom he sees as the missing key to achieving critical mass. Episode 186 features a frank conversation with Eric Kaufmann, professor of politics at the University of Buckingham and author of Taboo, on race, identity, and why he believes the progressive era has already peaked. Follow the Free Cities Podcast at fountain.fm/show/xudG4tsYH5TimGLfAmqn.
Final thoughts
If you enjoyed this newsletter, then there has never been a better time to move from reading about Free Cities to experiencing one firsthand. We hope that you’ll join us in Próspera this September to see the real thing. Tickets available at freecitiesconference.com.
Your Free Cities Foundation Team
