Silicon Valley backers of a ‘startup city’ could bankrupt Honduras — To build semi-autonomous zone empowered to enact its own laws and courts, investors sue for up to US$10.775 billion

Excerpts from a [long read](https://www.wired.com/story/a-lawsuit-from-backers-of-a-startup-city-could-bankrupt-honduras/) by Nicholas Kusnetz and Katie Surma:

*[…] Crawfish Rock is a fishing village of a few hundred people on the island of Roatán. It is the kind of place where children roam free, scouring the forest for iguanas or catching crabs under the Caribbean’s glassy waters.*

*It is also the site of Próspera ZEDE, a libertarian experiment in market-driven governance whose backers are suing Honduras for up to $10.775 billion.*

*Próspera’s Delaware-based creator, Honduras Próspera Inc., argues its project has a right to continue operating even though the law that enabled it was repealed two years ago, and that it should retain that right for 50 years.*

*To make this claim, Honduras Próspera cited a trade agreement Honduras signed with the United States, where the investors are based, and an unrelated treaty with Kuwait.*

*Honduras Próspera’s is just one of 15 similar claims against the Honduran government, nearly all of which have been filed since February 2023.*

*Collectively, investors who brought four of the claims are seeking up to $12.3 billion, nearly twice as much as Honduras’ entire public expenditures in 2022. The amount sought in the other 11 claims has not been made public.*

 

*[…] Próspera became the first ZEDE in December 2017, funded by a venture capital firm founded to help launch charter cities around the world. The firm, Pronomos Capital, was backed by prominent billionaires, including Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen.*

*Próspera began attracting biotechnology companies and other businesses by promising a “flexible and incentive-based regulatory environment designed to foster innovation while ensuring optimal levels of safety.” Companies could choose from a number of regulatory frameworks or propose their own.*

*Próspera’s advertising promised “a favorable tax regime.” The company says it has registered more than 220 businesses, which can be established by “(e)Residents,” who do not necessarily live or work in Roatán.*

*Today, not far from Crawfish Rock’s wooden houses and unpaved paths, in a country where more than half the population lives on less than $7 a day, visitors can spend $25,000 to inject themselves with a gene therapy that aims to delay aging, available only on Roatán and in Dubai.*

*A Bitcoin center perched on a ridge overlooking the Caribbean teaches locals about the benefits of cryptocurrency and how to use it—Próspera ZEDE has adopted the digital coin as one of its currencies. Another company offers “subdermal implantation services and a variety of cybernetic upgrades,” saying: “We help people become self-sovereign cyborgs.”*

Their regulatory environment will “Foster innovation while ensuring optimal levels of safety”

I wonder what level of safety the board considers “optimal”, but I have a suspicion it’s about zero

>We help people become self-sovereign cyborgs.

Oh god. Another bunch of idiots who have no idea what ‘sovereign’ means.

This sounds like the beginning of Cyberpunk

That’s absolutely laughable.