It also pushed CommunityOS ideas and open-source coordination for temporary societies. Later Zu-branded villages and fellowships trace much of their culture back to Zuzalu’s Montenegro cohort. It brought together ~200 builders, thinkers, and researchers in longevity, crypto, AI, and network states for coliving and collaboration. Zuzalu is especially important because it minted the popup village model that provided a concrete organizational form to the network state movement.
Dec 2023 Decentralization Moment Vitalik proposed a shift from centralized events to independent, global popup villages. The original popup village network that kicked off the modern Zu- ecosystem. Zuzalu was the event that marked the birth of the pop-up village movement. It currently runs as a global network of nodes experimenting with decentralized coordination, identity, and privacy tech.
Location
Currently, Zuzalu doesn’t own a physical hub, but its branch nodes host pop-up villages worldwide:
Zuzalu Pop-up, the first pop-up village ever, was hosted in Luštica Bay, Montenegro.
Zanzibar, Tanzania.
Zuitzerland Residency.
Swiss Alps, Switzerland.
Duration
Zuzalu Pop-up ran for 2 months, from March to May 2023.
Zu’s decentralized communities organize pop-up cities that last 10 days up to 2 months:
Zuitzerland v0.1.
1/9/2024 - 10/9/2024.
15/4/2025 - 5/5/2025.
Zuzalu Montenegro.
25/3/2023 - 25/5/2023.
Pricing
Zuzalu Pop-up Montenegro
Payments were made via crypto. Students and others needing financial support could apply for a subsidy Zuzalu Montenegro was invitation-based. Core organizers invited ~15 residents each, and each resident could invite 2 guests. Some participants were selected via application
- $100/week for breakfast, co-working space, and access to events
- Food was estimated at an extra $50/day
Amenities
- Co-working spaces
- Conference and workshop venues
- Community events and social programming
- Accommodation was not included
- Zuzalu focused on three core themes:
- Cryptography & Privacy. ZK proofs, programmable cryptography, privacy-preserving tech
- Longevity & Biotech. DeSci, longevity research, biotech innovation (co-organized with VitaDAO )
- Governance & Coordination. Network states, decentralized governance, public goods
- Programming included talks, workshops, hackathons, and unconferences led by participants