Ipê News #7 - Zcash, Base Network State, Animoca, popup cities and more
Your weekly update on what is happening in the Startup Society ecosystem.
Hey builders!
Welcome to our 7th edition of the Ipê News.
Every week, we’ll explore the Network State space, but this time we have a special episode to review the Network State Conference week in Singapore!
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🏘️ Community Updates
Highlights from Ipê City, partner communities, or aligned initiatives.
Ipê City at the NS Conference!
Our one and only Jean Hansen presented Ipê City at the Network State Conference with the likes of Vitalik and government representatives! For the post-conference insights and recap, check the Startup Cities Live at the Network School.
The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, sampling from 2000 attendees and more than 600,000 viewers online, putting Floripa DEZ and the Ipê Village on the map of communities pushing the frontier.
If you are reading this, you are still early, and we are just getting started. The next popup event of Ipê City has been announced and will kick off in March 2026! Join us right after the Brazilian carnival for an intense month of building together.
🏫 Learning section
A learning segment to upskill and be able to build the tools of the future.
Zcash: privacy-first Network State
Not actually part of the Network State Conference, Zcash held an event at the Network School to talk about the Zcash Network State.
Zcash ($ZEC) is a privacy-focused cryptocurrency launched in 2016 as a fork of the Bitcoin blockchain. Since Bitcoin is a public blockchain, anyone, or even a government, can track every single transaction, which is not ideal for every application in a world heading towards mass surveillance.
The Zcash blockchain uses Zero Knowledge proof to shield transactions, validating them while hiding them, although privacy is optional, and users can decide to make a transaction public. The total supply is capped at 21 million, like Bitcoin, it started with a fair launch, and they implemented some interesting features, like allocating 20% of block rewards for decentralized grant applications.
The project was endorsed by many big names, so if you want to learn more, head to this exhaustive thread.
🌐 Network Societies Update
A quick pulse on emerging cities, nomad groups, and experiments shaping the future of network societies.
The Base Network State
Base is the Ethereum layer 2 started by Coinbase, based on the OP stack, which we already covered for their new Base App and great AI devkits. But Base is more than that.
The Head of Global Growth at Base takes us through the definition of Network State to convince us that Base is on the way to building one, starting a global community of builders with a shared economy, and working towards crowdfunded territories.
The network is powered by the Base blockchain, the Base Build for developers, and The Base App for social media, which together form the Base Builder Network, where Builders, Users, Creators, and Traders feed the on-chain economy of Base.
The ecosystem is perfect for builders trying to learn and build, with a lot of hackathons around the world. Fun fact: Base Brazil is one of the earliest promoters of this stack, so you can join this community now!
⚖️ Governance Tools
Exploring mechanisms for coordination, decision-making, and digital governance.
Animoca and games as Network States
In this Fireside chat with the chairman of Animoca, we learn how gaming can be seen as a blueprint for building a proto-network state. Animoca started as a mobile game company, and quickly dived into the blockchain ecosystem with a focus on IP assets (think game NFTs).
They are a massive investor in the space with more than 600 companies in their portfolio, and not a fund (they do not have Limited Partners). But they don’t just play around; they recently announced a Real World Asset marketplace called Nuva to connect RWA with investors.
Games are indeed interesting cases of very aligned communities, with a scalable infrastructure, an economic logic supercharged by the interoperability of blockchains, and this model isn’t new since games have been selling digital currencies for a very long time. Many games also have governance systems, and big need for coordination to win. If your Network Society has a gaming component, Animoca is actively investing in the space.
🛠️ Web3 Tools
Tech shaping decentralized living, finance, and identity.
The Telegram blockchain for the TON Network State
Telegram has had a crypto wallet for 2 years, but this presentation by the CEO of TON Strategy Company really highlights the traction it is getting.
Indeed, Telegram is one of the largest communication superapp with more than 1 billion users, hundreds of mini apps, native digital assets (including usernames for identity), and of course, the crypto wallet, with many major cryptocurrencies and soon tokenized US stocks & ETFs. It operates on The Open Network (TON, their layer 1 blockchain), a native token Toncoin ($TON), and even some EVM-compatible layer 2 networks.
Part of their success comes from the ease of use, both for users and developers alike, with many options to build from within the app. With over 100 million users of their crypto wallet, and a fair split of revenue, making mini apps on Telegram can be worth your while.
As for TON Strategy Co., they’re a public company on NASDAQ building a reserve treasury of $TON to support the ecosystem of builders. If you like Telegram, come and say hi in our Ipê community.
🌍 Other Interesting News
Broader movements and stories from the frontier of digital-first governance and societies.
Popup cities are driving the Network State narrative
Many popup city projects were covered during the conference, including your own Ipê City. They are proving to be incubators for the next generation of societies. Among them, we count the famous Edge City (remember it’s in Patagonia soon), Zuitzerland building a permanent hub, or the AI-focused Oz City (also in Patagonia very soon).
Some of them, like Forma City, are evolving to build SEZs with nation-states (you can apply to their last popup city soon in Georgia), while existing nations like Dubai build fit-for-purpose cities in SEZs, namely Expo City.
Meanwhile, new nations like Liberland are hosting a longevity-focused popup city in November, layer 2s like Arc are launching a new cohort in January at Network School, and Infinita City just announced the Infinite Games, in February & March 2026!
💡 What is Ipê City?
A Techno-Optimist Community and Governance Lab
Ipê City is an innovative, techno-optimist community and social laboratory dedicated to exploring and experimenting with new ways of self-governing. It serves as a real-world testbed for decentralized and futuristic social models, blending technology, community, and governance in a unique way.
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