Author: Scof, ChainCatcher

Editor: TB, ChainCatcher

On April 3, Vitalik Buterin once again demonstrated his support for the future he believes in. He directly transferred 274 ETH, approximately $500,000, to the developers of the experimental project Zuitzerland. There was no overwhelming publicity, nor was it a grand fundraising event—just his consistent style: when he sees something worth supporting, he takes action.

What is Zuitzerland? How is it related to the Zuzalu and Edge City projects that Vitalik supported earlier? Why are so many builders, researchers, and creators paying attention?

What is Zuitzerland?

Zuitzerland is an experimental project dedicated to exploring possible paths for future society. It combines cutting-edge technology, decentralized governance, and the advantages of real-world systems to create a "network state sandbox," providing a real social experimentation space for builders, researchers, and creators worldwide.

Launched in Switzerland, known for its 700-year tradition of local autonomy and direct democracy, Zuitzerland benefits from a robust system and high social trust, making it a rare example of "sustainable governance" in reality. Zuitzerland aims to leverage this institutional soil, combined with Web3 technology, to practice a replicable and verifiable new social structure.

It can be said that Zuitzerland is a continuation and evolution of the Zuzalu concept. Zuzalu was a pop-up city experiment initiated by Vitalik in 2023, attracting pioneers from the global Web3, AI, and biotechnology fields within two months. Its impact exceeded expectations, giving rise to extended projects like Edge City, while Zuitzerland takes a further step—establishing a long-term resident node to ground the spirit of Zuzalu into a real governance system.

The project offers co-creation and testing platforms through residency programs, pop-up events, hackathons, and more, focusing on cutting-edge areas such as Web3, AI, biotechnology, privacy computing, and brain-computer interfaces. It attempts to answer a key question: can a technology-driven, distributed yet resilient society truly operate in the real world?

The Practical Path of Zuitzerland

1. Turning "governance" from concept into reality

Currently, many decentralized projects and organizations face governance challenges: the concepts are advanced, but there is a lack of real application scenarios and effective testing platforms. Zuitzerland provides a small-scale, controllable real environment where new social structures and governance mechanisms can be genuinely tested. This is not just about discussing how "DAOs" operate, but about allowing people to live, collaborate, and self-govern in a real space while continuously optimizing the system.

Switzerland's institutional foundation provides a solid reference here. Zuitzerland draws on Swiss democratic experiences, such as referendums, local autonomy, and small-scale trust networks, to provide a real template for decentralized governance.

2. Providing a landing platform for innovators from different backgrounds

Zuitzerland targets three core groups:

• Builders and doers: such as Web3 developers and DAO participants, who can test new tools and form communities here.
• Experts and researchers: policymakers, economists, and sociologists can observe or participate in real social prototype experiments.
• Creators: artists, philosophers, and cultural narrators inject humanistic depth into technological constructs.

Zuitzerland does not pursue "mass appeal," but rather provides a space for "deeply interested" individuals willing to personally engage in future experiments.

3. Promoting "safe technological acceleration"

Zuitzerland advocates the concept of "Defensive Accelerationism (d/acc)," where technological acceleration must simultaneously focus on safety, boundaries, and long-term resilience. In the current rapidly changing technological environment, how to maintain basic order and avoid systemic risks while innovating is a core issue. Switzerland's stability makes it an ideal testing ground for d/acc experiments.

4. Providing limited but real support and opportunities

The project will open applications, prioritizing those with a genuine willingness to participate but limited financial means. Some scholarships will support accommodation and other expenses (excluding transportation), and applicants need to demonstrate a willingness and ability for long-term participation.

Additionally, Zuitzerland will use NFT holders as part of the support selection process, allowing participants to support the project through Juicebox and gain priority, aligning with the community-driven logic advocated by the project.

Future Plans for the Project

Zuitzerland's activities will begin on May 1 and continue throughout May, featuring a series of themed weeks, workshops, summits, and hackathons centered around core themes such as community co-creation, Swiss governance, network states, cutting-edge technology, and future lifestyles. The participation fee for the project is approximately 650-2500 Swiss francs per week.

Participants will collaboratively explore social prototypes, technological applications, and institutional innovations, culminating in project development and results presentation during the final week. The entire process progresses from conceptual exploration to practical prototyping, forming a complete experimental loop.

(This article only introduces the early project and does not constitute investment advice.)

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