Nevada is the location for a proposed smart city based on blockchain

Blockchain and cryptocurrencies are fast becoming the biggest trends in the world at the moment, not just in terms of finance and technology, but moving to other sectors as well. There are a number of businesses and industries that are looking to these innovations to provide a spark and change their operations, with blockchain in particular having a lot of potential, while cryptocurrencies continue to rise in price and draw in more and more investors and traders. Thus, we are seeing many projects and developments that are using crypto and blockchain in some form to support their creation, and these are not restricted to just the financial space, or even technology. Sectors as diverse as real estate, shipping, logistics and storage, sports and gaming, to name just a few, have seen the use of blockchain and crypto in some form to improve their operations, and the latest news around a potential smart city based on blockchain in Nevada is just the latest example of this.

According to reports, Blockchains LLC, which is an American blockchain investment firm and incubator, is moving ahead with its plans to build a smart city underpinned by blockchain in the Nevada desert, east of Reno. CEO Jeffrey Burns said in a press conference, that he had asked the state of Nevada to allow the firm to form a local government on the 67,000 acres of land owned by Blockchains LLC in Storey County. If this request is granted, the company would be able to operate in an ‘innovation zone’, where it would be able to impose and collect taxes, create courts and maintain law and order, among other civic responsibilities which are normally carried out by local, state and federal governments. All of this would be supported by blockchain, with records being maintained on it, and digital currencies used for payments for goods and services, tax collection and so on.

Of course, this would be a huge gamble, but then Nevada is famous for gambling, with Las Vegas continuing to be the gambling hotspot of the world. It is also interesting that there is a more direct link between gambling and cryptocurrencies as well, which has come about over the last few months. Increasingly, more and more online casino operators have begun using blockchain and crypto on gambling sites, with dogecoin gambling, for example, becoming extremely popular. This and other cryptocurrency options are now available for users who want to place bets on casino table games online through crypto, while blockchain is used to support these websites and their operations. This has brought in more users to these sites than ever before, making it a great example of how various businesses can harness crypto to improve their operations.

Thus, in Nevada, we could soon see a crypto-based smart city, with the company having bought the land back in January 2018 for $170 million. Although plans may have changed in the interim, the original proposal for this smart city included a campus for Blockchains LLC, an esports arena, a content creation studio and residential areas. However, it remains to be seen as to how many homes can be built – Burns had wanted to build 15,000 homes in the next 75 years on this site, but most of the proposed area is not zoned for residential development, which means that at present, only 3,500 homes can be built on this property.

In any case, if this proposal is accepted by Nevada’s lawmakers, there will be a situation in Nevada where three people will be in charge of private companies’ tech-based properties based on over 50,000 acres in the state, with around $1 billion to come in investment as well. Along with this smart city, Tesla’s Gigafactory is also going to be set up in the same county, while Amazon also has a fulfilment center in the same region.