New Zealand
Can a small island nation at the edge of the world become the prototype for how communities coordinate in the AI-crypto age?
Big Questions
- What is the role of New Zealand in the world?
- What unique point of difference offers maximum potential?
- What is holding us back the most? How can that be addressed?
Scoreboard
| Category | Perspective | Potential |
|---|---|---|
| Culture | Rugby coordination, egalitarian, tall poppy | High - exportable via diaspora network |
| Know-How | AgTech, clean energy, cooperative models | High - sustainability leadership |
| Resources (Ownership) | Land concentration, foreign ownership restrictions | Medium - tokenization opportunity |
| Finances | Small market, conservative banking | Medium - crypto-curious but undeveloped |
| Regulation | Progressive governance, pragmatic approach | High - fast-adopter potential |
Potential
Traditionally fast to adopt innovative technologies and lead with progressive governance.
- Agriculture Tech: World-leading dairy and farming cooperatives
- ANZ with CCIP: Chainlink cross-chain settlement
- ACC Infrastructure: Standardized protocols for treatment creating clean medical data lattice
- Diaspora Network: Kiwis abroad as decentralized ambassadors and sales force
Strategic Opportunities
- AgTech + Tokenization: Cooperative models meet blockchain coordination
- Real Estate Innovation: First-mover on RWA tokenization
- Clean Energy: 80%+ renewable, green hydrogen potential
- DePIN Infrastructure: First-mover on decentralized physical networks
- Healthcare Data: ACC's standardized protocols as foundation for AI-driven health
Culture
Flowing rugby demands alignment of decision-making across people with diverse physiological gifts to coordinate effectively in achieving a common goal. Better decisions, taken faster, executed effectively wins the game.
- Cannot play free flowing rugby without a strong platform
- Focus on following process and the right results typically follow
- Best teams have strong links to their community
- Use storytelling to build culture and ensure newcomers feel they belong
- Win the collisions, win the game
With AI and open source protocols everything can be copied easily except culture.
Opportunity: Must become better at exporting culture. Go to any major city in the world and you find an Aussie, Irish, South African or English pub. Where are the Kiwi pubs/cafes? We can export a reinvention of the rugby club as cultural centre.
Challenge: Tall poppy syndrome limits visible ambition. Culture creates network effects—brain drain converts into a decentralised salesforce when framed correctly.
Put soul back into business, the ghost into the machine.
Technology
Crypto & Blockchain
Growing but still nascent crypto ecosystem:
- Easy Crypto: Major retail on-ramp
- blockchain.org.nz: Industry association (LinkedIn)
- DSG Exchange: Local exchange
- FSCL: Financial services complaints
- Tax Regulation: Crypto treated as property
AI Development
- newzealand.ai: National AI strategy
- Tech Talk: Community and events
Gaming
Who is influential in blockchain gaming?
- Altered State Machine: AI-powered NFT gaming
Economy
Business Environment
- Small market: Forces international thinking from day one
- Cooperative heritage: Fonterra, farming cooperatives as coordination models
- Government support: Digital Boost, Callaghan Innovation
Venture Capital: NZ VC Landscape
- What Founders Want - Capital provider database, templates, verified cloud credits
- Icehouse Ventures - Leading accelerator
- Startup Queenstown Lakes - Regional programs & microgrants
Cost of Living
| Category | Auckland | Wellington | Queenstown |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rent (1BR) | $400-600/week | $350-500/week | $450-700/week |
| Meal out | $20-35 | $18-30 | $25-40 |
| Transport | Car-dependent | Walkable CBD | Car essential |
Tax Considerations
- Progressive income tax: 10.5-39%
- No capital gains tax (except property traders)
- GST: 15%
- Crypto treated as property (taxable on disposal)
Industry Sectors
How does NZ stack up to provide most valuable resources for the future of commerce?
Primary Industries:
Services:
Regulation
SPV & Business Structures:
Residency & Immigration
Visa Options
- Skilled Migrant: Points-based permanent residency
- Entrepreneur Work Visa: Business establishment
- Global Impact Visa: High-impact entrepreneurs (Edmund Hillary Fellowship)
- Working Holiday: 12-23 months for many nationalities
Integration Challenges
- Distance: Geographic isolation from major markets
- Small market: Limited local scale
- Housing crisis: High costs, especially Auckland
- Brain drain: Talent attracted to larger markets
Quality of Life
Healthcare
Public healthcare with private options:
- Universal ACC for accidents
- Subsidized GP visits
- Pharmaceutical subsidies (PHARMAC)
- Strong preventive health focus
Safety
Consistently ranked among safest countries:
- Low violent crime
- Stable democracy
- Natural disaster risks (earthquakes, volcanoes)
- Strong rule of law
Infrastructure
- Transport: Improving public transit in main centres
- Internet: Good urban coverage, rural gaps
- Energy: 80%+ renewable electricity
- Housing: Supply constraints, high costs
Essentials Framework
Essential Human Needs, Strong Identity and Belief System:
- Meaning & Belonging
- Health: Calm yet curious mind, able body, clean water, nutritious food
- Environment: Access to cheap energy, safety & security, shelter & warmth, affordable housing
- Earning Potential: Fair trade
Challenges
Economic Scale
- Small domestic market: 5 million people limits local growth
- Distance to markets: Tyranny of distance for exports
- Brain drain: Talent leaves for bigger opportunities
- Tall poppy syndrome: Cultural resistance to visible success
Housing Crisis
- Affordability: Housing costs vs. income severely stretched
- Supply constraints: Planning rules, construction costs
- Foreign ownership rules: Restrict investment but also liquidity
Infrastructure Gaps
- Transport: Car-dependent outside main centres
- Rural broadband: Coverage gaps
- Water infrastructure: Deferred maintenance
- IoT/DePIN: No decentralized infrastructure networks (see below)
DePIN Infrastructure Opportunity
New Zealand has zero meaningful DePIN coverage. This is either a problem or the opportunity of a decade—depending on who moves first.
The Real Value: Public Standards Data
The key insight about DePIN isn't privacy — it's the opposite. DePIN creates public, verifiable, standards-grade data.
| Traditional Data | DePIN Data |
|---|---|
| Private, siloed | Public, shared |
| Trust the source | Verify on-chain |
| Proprietary formats | Open standards |
| Value captured by collector | Value shared with contributors |
| Quality unknown | Cryptographically attested |
Why this matters for NZ:
- Agriculture: Weather data from WeatherXM becomes a public good — every farmer benefits, not just those who pay NIWA
- Construction: GEODNET positioning data creates survey-grade accuracy as shared infrastructure
- Insurance: Parametric triggers based on verifiable sensor data, not claims adjusters
- AI Training: Clean, attested data streams feed models that benefit the whole network
"The greatest potential value of blockchain to humanity is an immutable single source of truth" — Standards
See Data Flow for why high-signal proprietary data is becoming the most valuable asset — and how DePIN creates public standards that compound value for everyone in the network.
The Current State
| Network | Global Status | NZ Coverage | Opportunity |
|---|---|---|---|
| Helium (LoRaWAN) | 63,000+ hotspots globally | ~50 scattered hobbyist nodes | Wide open |
| WeatherXM | Growing, demand exceeds supply | Minimal | High - agriculture country |
| GEODNET | 12,000+ RTK stations | None documented | High - precision ag, construction |
| DIMO | 100,000+ vehicles | None | Medium - fleet management |
| Hivemapper | Global mapping | Minimal | Medium - dashcam network |
Current alternative: Spark/Kordia (M2M One NZ) — centralized LoRaWAN, pay-per-connection, no ownership upside, no token rewards.
Why Helium Isn't Here
- No local distributor — Devices ship from China/US, no one's pushing locally
- No installer network — Marketed to tech nerds, not tradies
- No property angle — Sold as "crypto mining", not "building intelligence"
- Regulatory uncertainty — No one's done the RF compliance homework
- Small market perception — Global protocols focus on US/EU first
The Business Model
IMPORTER/DISTRIBUTOR (you)
↓
SPARKY NETWORK (install + maintain)
↓
PROPERTY OWNERS (earn + evangelize)
↓
DATA FLYWHEEL (AI models, insurance, valuations)
The logic: Team up with electricians ("sparkys") to sell and wire up DePIN devices. Become the importer/distributor. Sparkys get a new revenue stream. Property owners earn passive income from data. Everyone wins.
Which Networks Fit NZ?
| Network | Device | NZ Fit | Why | Distributor Path |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| WeatherXM | Weather stations | High | Agriculture country, parametric insurance, NIWA alternative | Reseller program |
| GEODNET | RTK base stations | High | Precision ag, construction surveying, drone ops | Direct contact |
| Helium | LoRaWAN hotspots | Medium | IoT backbone, but RF regs need checking | RAK partner program |
| DIMO | OBD2 dongles | Medium | Fleet management, but vehicle density lower | DIMO business dev |
| Ambient | Air quality sensors | Medium | Urban monitoring, council applications | Direct contact |
Recommended entry point: WeatherXM or GEODNET — they serve agriculture and construction, which NZ actually has. Helium requires more regulatory groundwork.
The Pictures to Show
Picture 1: Ownership Gap
| Spark/Kordia | DePIN Network | Your Network | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who owns it | Telco shareholders | Protocol | Property owners + sparkys |
| Who earns | Corporate profits | Hotspot operators | Installers + building owners |
| Coverage model | Top-down rollout | Bottom-up incentives | Tradie distribution |
| Data ownership | Telco keeps it | Contributors earn | Contributors earn |
Picture 2: The Flywheel
Sparky installs device at property
→ Property generates data
→ Data earns tokens
→ Property owner sees passive income
→ Tells other property owners
→ More work for sparkys
→ Sparkys buy more devices from you
Picture 3: NZ Competitive Advantage
- Coordination culture: Rugby proves Kiwis run complex coordination games
- Cooperative heritage: Fonterra, farming co-ops as mental models
- Clean energy: 80%+ renewable = green data infrastructure
- Agriculture: WeatherXM + GEODNET serve actual NZ industries
- Small scale: Easier to achieve meaningful coverage than US/EU
Distributor Program Links
| Manufacturer | Program | URL |
|---|---|---|
| RAK Wireless | Partner Portal | rakwireless.com/partnership-portal |
| Seeed Studio (SenseCAP) | B2B Sales | seeed.cc — contact for distributor terms |
| WeatherXM | Reseller Program | weatherxm.com/resellers |
| WeatherXM | Commercial Deployer | weatherxm.com/commercial-deployer |
| WeatherXM | Affiliate | weatherxm.com/affiliates |
Regulatory Considerations
RF Compliance (LoRaWAN):
- NZ uses 915-928 MHz ISM band (AS/NZS standards)
- Helium devices typically designed for US 915 MHz or EU 868 MHz
- Check RSM (Radio Spectrum Management) for certification requirements
- May need to work with RAK/Seeed on NZ-compliant firmware
Crypto/Token Considerations:
- Tokens earned = taxable income (crypto treated as property)
- See IRD guidance on crypto
- Consider GST implications on device sales
Integration with PropTech
DePIN infrastructure feeds the Real Estate Data Flywheel:
| DePIN Layer | Property Application | Value Created |
|---|---|---|
| Connectivity (Helium) | IoT backbone for all sensors | Enables everything else |
| Weather (WeatherXM) | Parametric insurance, HVAC optimization | Risk reduction, efficiency |
| Positioning (GEODNET) | Survey-grade location, drone ops | Construction, precision ag |
| Vehicle (DIMO) | Fleet management, parking | Mobility data |
| Environment (Ambient) | Air quality, urban monitoring | Health, compliance |
See DePIN Devices for Real Estate for specific hardware recommendations.
Next Steps
- Validate RF compliance — Contact RSM about LoRaWAN device certification
- Apply to distributor programs — Start with WeatherXM (clearest path)
- Build sparky network — Partner with electrical contractors
- Pilot properties — Instrument 10-20 properties to prove the model
- Document the playbook — Create NZ-specific installation guides
Opportunities
For Builders
- AgTech: World's testing ground for farming innovation
- RWA Tokenization: First-mover regulatory opportunity
- Clean tech: Renewable energy, green hydrogen
- Healthcare AI: Clean ACC data as training ground
For Investors
- Real Estate Tokenization:
- PropTech:
- Valuation Data:
- Builders & Suppliers: Unit Economics
Resources
Business & Startups
- Digital Boost - Government digital support
- Icehouse Ventures - Accelerator & VC
- Kea New Zealand - Global network
- NZ Entrepreneur - Magazine & community for founders (5000+ network)
- What Founders Want - Single source of truth for NZ founders (Founder VC)
- Startup Queenstown Lakes - Regional ecosystem with coaching, microgrants & programs
Crypto Community
Transport (Queenstown-Wanaka)
News & Podcasts
Content Providers:
Episodes:
- NZ Tech Podcast | Property, Shares, and AI in Web 3.0
- NZ Tech Podcast | What's next for Easy Crypto
- Core Logic | Wanaka Property Market
- The Ghost in the Machine
Innovators to Watch
- Rod Drury: Xero founder, sovereign infrastructure advocate, Queenstown prototype
- Wayne Brown: Auckland Mayor, CCO reform, Tech Alliance
- Aditya Das: Techemy Ltd
- Kyle Den Hartog: Senior Software Engineer, Brave New Software, LLC
- Thomas Scovell: Chief Customer Officer, Alkimi
- Marta Adamczyk: Head of Business Development, SubQuery
- Pramodya De Alwis: Head of Technology, Futureverse
- Sally Hodges: Portfolio Manager & Tech Educator
- Chris Kwon: IT Intern, Rocket Lab & ETHGlobal Finalist
- Yaser S.: Investment Manager of Web3, UniServices
- Gustavo Chiechelski: CTO, Tech Lead & Web3 Developer, Reap
Summary
New Zealand combines progressive governance, strong cooperative traditions, and geographic isolation that forces international thinking. The challenge: can a small nation at the edge of the world become a prototype for crypto-enabled coordination?
Best for: Builders in AgTech, clean energy, and RWA tokenization who value quality of life and can work across time zones. Ideal testing ground for global products.
Watch for: Regulatory clarity on crypto, RWA tokenization pilots, and whether diaspora networks can be activated as decentralized growth engines.
Agency Framework
Knowledge comes in two main categories:
- Science: Knowledge about the nature of the world, what exists and how it works
- Technology: Knowledge of how to transform the physical and social aspects of our environment
Layers of knowledge built up from experiments to explore potential to grow:
- Embodied knowledge - Knowledge embedded in tools where you don't need to know how a tool is made to gain leverage extracting value from using it
- Codified knowledge - Knowledge that exists in symbolic space as codes, recipes, formulas, algorithms, and manuals
- Knowhow - Knowledge that exists in people's heads that can't be easily explained or transferred through conversation, requiring extensive practice
Agency comes from capability to leverage science (best practice protocols) and technology effectively to transform the world for a better quality of life.