Bitnation is the project behind the XPAT cryptocurrency. You may have heard of the platform. It has certainly made its share of news recently. This community of crypto enthusiasts, led by Susanne Tarkowski Templehof, champion the idea of a world with no borders. Literally. The members of Bitnation believe in the concept of self-governance.
Within the Bitnation architecture, anyone can create their own virtual nation. They can draft a constitution, write laws or accept common examples of them, and engage in trade with other virtual nations. The project stresses a type of freedom that appeals to many people who have an interest in cryptocurrency.
The concept may sound good, but some digging into the people involved with the project cast doubt on the legitimacy of Bitnation. Our research determined that there are many red flags that potential investors should be aware of. It is even possible that Bitnation was started as a massive joke, similar to Dogecoin, but with ill intent.
Susanne Tarkowski Templehof—Founder of Bitnation
The idea behind Bitnation’s concept of a digital society without borders can be credited to Susanne Tarkowski Templehof. Ms. Templehof is a long-time advocate of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology. She appears to have been an early adopter of Bitcoin, and her digital currency columns are frequently featured on CoinTelegraph.
In 2014, Templehof decided to create Bitnation, an expression of her desire to govern herself and cut ties with Nation States. Templehof has expressed in a TED Talk that she considers democracy to be a failed concept. She believes that each individual should have the right to govern themselves. According to Templehof, she started to seriously consider the idea while working in Kabul, Afghanistan. She observed the effects of war on the infrastructure of society and concluded that government was failing to improve the lot of citizens in the region.
Templehof met and married James Fennel Templehof. The two were actually married by virtue of a Smart Contract executed on the Ethereum-based Bitnation blockchain. Together, along with a team of cryptocurrency developers, the duo founded Bitnation in 2014 and began to move toward an ICO for the XPAT token. XPAT is the cryptocurrency of the Bitnation platform.
Some digging into the background of Susanne Tarkowski reveals some interesting details. While in Afghanistan, Tarkowski worked as a PR executive. Her work involved regular interaction with high ranking officials in the British military. One of these individuals was 49 year-old Colonel Simon Diggins.
Diggins and Tarkowski began an affair. Tarkowski was 29 years old at the time. When the affair was revealed, Diggins was forced to resign his post as attache at the British Embassy and return to the UK in disgrace. Diggins had a wife and two children. Spokespersons for the government stated that Diggins was removed because his affair with Tarkowski presented security concerns at a time when the UK was engaged in delicate work with the Afghani government to restore stability to the region.
As for her involvement in the affair, Tarkowski has chosen to remain silent.
Bitnation Ambassadors Have Ties to Hate Groups
Another startling discovery about Bitnation involves the platform’s use of “ambassadors” to spread the word about the Bitnation concept and XPAT token.
When Bitnation was first launched and began to move toward its ICO, the official Bitnation website posted a call for individuals to volunteer as ambassadors. According to the website, ambassadors would be tasked with making posts to social media, hosting meetups, and organizing other volunteers who wanted to spread the word prior to the ICO.
Bounties were offered to individuals who wanted to participate as ambassadors. Marketing Director Erik Vollstadt oversees the ambassador program for Bitnation, and currently hosts hangouts where ambassadors get together and discuss methods of promoting the platform.
Among those ambassadors is Leigh Petty. Going by the handle Savage Leigh in her role as a Bitnation ambassador, Petty represents the US state of Louisiana among the group of volunteers. It should be noted that all states do not have an ambassador. These individuals are located in various countries.
Along with her husband, Micha Petty, Savage Leigh helps to webmaster AmericanRevival.org. The website is a repository of information that primarily relates to the period of the American Civil War. Micha Petty is an apologist for the Confederate States of America, and includes many articles which support the secession of the Confederacy during the Civil War.
Petty aligns himself with individuals such as Thomas Woods, a founder of the League of the South. The League of the South has been identified by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group. It is a neo-confederate, white nationalist organization. Leigh Petty promotes the website on her own social media pages.
To be clear, no one knows the amount of vetting that Bitnation ambassadors must undergo before they are allowed to represent the platform. What is known is that the ambassadors are allowed to speak on behalf of Bitnation on multiple platforms with Tarkowski’s blessing. This is a troubling issue which many investors might not be aware of.
An Elaborate Joke?
Some have been left scratching their heads at the ideas espoused by Susanne Tarkowski Templehof. She seems to want individuals to believe that Bitnation is a legitimate way for individuals to escape the clutches of government. Tarkowski openly promotes the belief that nation states will give way to virtual nations, and that Bitnation is the forerunner of such a world.
At times, the idea is laughable. Unless countries are willing to allow individuals to use their land for free while governing themselves as sovereign nations, the idea that one could create their own country and laws is laughable. Tarkowski seems to think that registering a nation on a blockchain makes it real, and she’s convincing quite a few people that she’s right.
On closer inspection, however, the individuals that have been attracted to the platform seem to be a combination of anarchists, white supremacists, and individuals who are essentially playing some type of elaborate world-building game like Age of Empires.
Perhaps the greatest sign that Tarkowski is engaged in a joke much like the creator of Dogecoin could be Bitnation’s alliance with something called B-Umbrella. This organization claims to provide security forces for those who create their own virtual states on the Bitnation blockchain.
Among the services that B-Umbrella claims to provide is protection against vampires, werewolves, and ghosts. The official website of the security company has apparently been taken down.
It seems as though Tarkowski has created something that appeals to fans of Second Life. Individuals who want to build their own virtual reality. And funding it all is the XPAT token, a cryptocurrency that fuels the transactions that are made between Bitnation members.
The XPAT Cryptocurrency
Since its ICO in mid-2018, the XPAT cryptocurrency has languished on the exchanges. There are about $6 billion of the tokens in circulation. One could presume that Tarkowski and her associates control most of those. A total of 42 billion tokens can be created.
Tarkowski has said that he XPAT token is a form of arbitration to solve disputes between those who create nations on the Bitnation blockchain. She has yet to fully clarify what those disputes might be or why the exchange of tokens would be necessary. What she has said is that XPAT will be given out as rewards for those who perform some type of service on behalf of Bitnation.
There were also plans to introduce a Bitnation debit card which would actually be a Bitcoin debit card supplied by Wirex. This project has apparently failed to get off the ground.
Investors are advised to proceed with caution when dealing with Bitnation or the XPAT token. This cryptocurrency has provoked many concerns at Cryptoswede.com, and we cannot recommend the token as a legitimate investment.
Related:
- Bitnation Founder Tarkowski Admits Profit Motive Jan 28 2019
- Walls May Be Closing In On Bitnation And Founder Susanne Tarkowski Templehof Jan 11 2019
- The Truth About Bitnation & Xpat First story
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