Phyles

Phyles is a concept developed by Spanish economist David de Ugarte describing transnational groups that share cultural and economic ties, coordinate both online and offline, and function as a kind of voluntary non-territorial nation. The term and concept predate the crypto era.

Vitalik Buterin cited Phyles directly in Why I Built Zuzalu as one of the intellectual precursors to Zuzalu, alongside Michel Maffesoli's The Time of the Tribes and Balaji Srinivasan's The Network State. He also listed it in his December 2025 essay Let a thousand societies bloom as part of the broader "thousand nations bloom" intellectual tradition.

Primary Sources

• P2P Foundation: Phyles
• David de Ugarte

See Also

• Network Societies
• Pluralism