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‘Glomads’ Marriage Marks First Official Act Of Estonia E-Residency/Bitnation

Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:46 PM
Lester Coleman
Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:46 PM

A marriage between two self-described “glomads” Tuesday marked the first official act by the new Estonia e-residency/Bitnation partnership. The marriage, for better or for worse, of Edurne Lolnaz and Mayel de Borniol will not be recorded anyplace else other than on the blockchain.

Bitnation recently agreed to extend its notarization services to Estonia’s e-residency program.

The wedding was held on Dec. 1 at 3 p.m. GMT. A party is planned for June 18, 2016, on the Island of Santorini, Greece, and there is an invitation form on the couple’s website for anyone interested in attending.

Wedding broadcast live

The wedding was broadcast live on the couple’s website. The couple entered their digital ID numbers during the event and a digital marriage certificate was generated. A Youtube video recorded the event.

Susanne Templehof, Bitnation CEO and founder, was physically in attendance and introduced the event and the couple. The nearly hour-long video includes an explanation of the blockchain.

Borniol and Lolnaz announced their wedding in advance on the website and explained the circumstances of their wedding. They describe themselves as “glomads” and said they are Basque natives who have moved around and have no geographic home. “Just like our life, we do not want our marriage to be linked to any particular nation-state, nor any state’s definitions of what our relationship (marriage) and celebration (wedding) should look like – hence, we are writing our own rules.”

BlockChain Over Church And State

They wrote that they don’t need any state or church to validate their marriage. “Therefore, we are entering into this agreement, in front of witnesses, notarized on the Blockchain (the world’s first decentralized public ledger), under the auspices of Bitnation (the world’s first virtual nation) and e-Estonia (the world’s first virtual residency).”

The marriage website page includes quotes by Emma Goldman, the early 20th Century anarchist feminist, Buckminister Fuller, the late American architect and theorist, and others.

People who “attended” the wedding over the Internet congratulated the couple on Facebook. One congratulatory post noted that “No hacker can break your cryptographic 10v3.”

Leonid Bershidsky, a Bloomberg columnist, also tweeted he “attended” the wedding. In a Bloomberg  column about the wedding, Bershidskey said the first blockchain wedding was between David Mondrus and Joyce Bayo last year. What makes Tuesday’s wedding different is that it carries a government sanction, he said. The Estonian e-residency program allows anyone to use its jurisdiction for business by signing up online.

An Estonian resident would have to register a marriage in a traditional way to be recognized by Estonia. The e-residency program is intended for persons who only want to be officially married in the virtual realm.

Wedding Without Precedent

A posting  on Bitnation’s website notes that the couple’s marriage contract, which they wrote themselves, is without precedent in its flexibility compared to traditional legal strictures. The contract covers a 42-month period and is open to alterations.

In September of last year, Bitnation reported plans for the wedding of David Mondrus, CEO of RedboxJewels.com and a Bitnation adviser, and Joyce Bayo. That wedding was to be held at the Disney World Coins in the Kingdom of Bitcoin Conference Oct. 4 and 5 at the Wyndham Lake Buena Vista at the Walt Disney World Resort.

Bitnation reported that Mondrus-Bayo wedding, during a Bitnation panel, was to be entered onto the blockchain using a Coin Outlet bitcoin ATM.

Mondrus and Bayo wanted to document their marriage publicly on the blockchain. Other records that are publicly documented on the blockchain include titles, shareholder agreements, votes, and notarized documents. Once these events are recorded on the blockchain, it is easy to know who owns what using a tool called a block explorer.

Blockchain marriages, according to Bitnation, are ideal for couples who want to record their commitments in a permanent and secure place but do not conform to traditional governmental systems. Such examples could include gay couples or polygamous groups.

Featured image from Shutterstock.