Open, verifiable, privacy-preserving rails for nation-states
A new category of infrastructure is emerging. Nation-states, multilateral institutions, and regional blocs are recognizing that their core public systems need to be rebuilt on open, verifiable, privacy-preserving foundations. This is the promise of sovereign-grade Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI).
A nation-state successfully runs core systems (identity, payment, registries) on crypto-rails and gains measurable advantages (e.g. World becomes mandated digital identity layer, or Anden digital zone catalyses Argentina's economic growth).
Crypto transforms from purely 'financial infra' to become sovereign infrastructure.
Multiple nation-states and regional blocs run core public infrastructure on open, verifiable, privacy-preserving rails built with PL-aligned technology. A 'Sovereign DPI Playbook' and 'Global DPI Atlas' make opportunities visible and investable. Shared testbeds and coordination mechanisms align actors around common standards, converting pilots into deployments that generate real workloads for PL networks.
Sovereign demand is real and growing. Argentina, Bhutan, UAE, Singapore, Estonia, and dozens of other jurisdictions are actively exploring or piloting crypto-native public infrastructure. Multilaterals (UNDP, UNICEF, World Bank, IDB) have moved from skepticism to active engagement.
The DPI movement has legitimacy but lacks rails. India's UPI, Brazil's PIX, and the EU's digital identity frameworks have demonstrated DPI works at population scale, but these systems are centralized, siloed, and difficult to replicate.
Crypto infrastructure has matured but lacks institutional pathways. Filecoin, IPFS, libp2p have demonstrated technical viability. What's missing is the translation layer: reference architectures, regulatory playbooks, and trust frameworks for sovereign adoption.
The window is open but closing. If decentralized, open-source, privacy-preserving infrastructure doesn't become the default stack for the next wave of DPI, closed alternatives will. The choices made in the next 3-5 years will shape public infrastructure for decades.
From pilots to nowhere: The field has produced dozens of promising pilots (blockchain land registries, decentralized identity, crypto-native payment rails) but pilots rarely become deployments. No systematic funnel converts proof-of-concept into production-grade systems.
Fragmented actors, no coordination layer: Sovereigns, multilaterals, protocols, funders, and builders operate in parallel with minimal coordination. A government exploring digital identity may not know about relevant protocol teams.
No sovereign-grade reference architectures: When a minister asks 'how do we build open, verifiable public infrastructure?', there is no credible, detailed answer. The field lacks deployment guides, regulatory templates, and operational playbooks.
Invisible opportunities: The global landscape of sovereign DPI activity is opaque. Which countries are piloting what? Where are the regulatory sandboxes? This invisibility prevents coordination and leaves capital undeployed.
# of nation-states, regional blocs, or multilaterals actively engaged in DPI pilots or deployments
# of sovereign-grade DPI playbooks, regulatory templates, and deployment guides adopted
# of Filecoin, IPFS, or libp2p deployments in real-world sovereign contexts
# of proof-of-concept projects that transition to production-grade deployments
# of formal MoUs or collaborations with governments, multilaterals, and protocol teams
$XM+ catalyzed toward sovereign DPI infrastructure (grants, development aid, co-investment)