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Read full story → Cypherpunk • HavenCo Founder • Est. 1998
CODE IS LAW.
FREEDOM IS
INFRASTRUCTURE.
I'm Ryan Lackey — American entrepreneur, computer security expert and founder of HavenCo, the world's first data haven on Sealand. For 25+ years I've built sovereign systems: encrypted havens, decentralized money, and censorship-resistant internet.
● LIVE: Sealand Haven StatusENCRYPTED
Uptime 99.99% • Jurisdiction: International Waters • Servers: Cold, hardened, sovereign. No subpoena shall pass.
HAVENCO • CYPHERPUNK • SEASTEADING • CRYPTOGRAPHY • DECENTRALIZATION • DATA HAVEN • FREEDOM TECH • HAVENCO • CYPHERPUNK • SEASTEADING • CRYPTOGRAPHY • DECENTRALIZATION • DATA HAVEN • FREEDOM TECH •
01 — About
The man who put servers in the middle of the sea.
Ryan Lackey became legend in 2000 when he co-founded HavenCo on the Principality of Sealand — a WWII sea fort 10km off England — to create a true data haven beyond any single government's reach. Wired called it “the most audacious crypto-anarchist experiment ever.”
Biography
Entrepreneur, hacker, libertarian.
Born in the USA, Ryan started as a teenage sysadmin, MIT-adjacent hacker and remailer operator. He worked on early anonymity systems, ran one of the largest anonymous remailers, and consulted for Fortune 500 on intrusion defense before he was 25. He believes privacy is not about hiding — it's about power balance.
Later: co-founder of CryptoSeal (acquired), early Bitcoin and Tezos participant, angel in 30+ infrastructure startups, speaker on blue-team defense, seasteading ambassador, and advocate for charter cities and network states.
Lab notes: “If your freedom depends on someone else's permission, you don't have freedom — you have a lease. Build systems that don't need permission.” — R.L.
MIT
Hacker roots
Hacker roots
Sealand
Data haven
Data haven
Web3
Crypto pioneer
Crypto pioneer
02 — Ventures & Work
From sea forts to blockchains.
Four eras of building anti-fragile infrastructure. Each venture answers one question: how do we keep data free when states want it caged?
1998 — 2002 • HavenCo
HavenCo — The Data Haven
Co-founded with Sean Hastings and Sameer Parekh. Colocated servers on Roughs Tower, Sealand. Offered bulletproof hosting with strong crypto, no logs, offshore incorporation. Covered by Wired, NYT, 60 Minutes. Proof that sovereignty is a service.
- First commercial seasteading startup
- Anonymous hosting + encrypted vaults
- Inspired Iceland's data haven movement
2005 — 2014 • Security
CryptoSeal, Blue Coat & Hardened VPN
Built privacy VPN used by journalists and activists. Focus on OpenVPN hardening, no-log architecture, warrant canary. Later security consulting for exchanges and fintech on cold storage and intrusion response.
2013 — Present • Crypto
Bitcoin, Tezos & Decentralized Money
Early miner, investor and infrastructure operator. Ran staking, custody research, multi-sig best practices. Advocate for on-chain governance and formal verification. Believes money should be as permissionless as speech.
2016 — Present • Network States
Seasteading, Charter Cities, Freedom Tech
Advisor to seasteading and startup-city projects. Mentors founders building mesh networks, satellite internet, e-residency tools, and parallel institutions. Mission: 1000 new jurisdictions through code.
03 — Timeline
A quarter-century off the grid.
1995 — Remailer kid
Runs cypherpunk remailers, learns PGP, Mixmaster, and why metadata kills.
1998 — HavenCo idea born
Paper “HavenCo: Offshore data haven” circulates. Investors, libertarians and hackers join.
2000 — Sealand landing
Servers helicoptered to Roughs Tower. World media frenzy. Ryan becomes face of data havens.
2005 — CryptoSeal VPN
Launches consumer privacy VPN with warrant canary and RAM-only servers.
2011 — Bitcoin rabbit hole
Starts mining, writes about cold storage, custody and censorship-resistant payments.
2018 — Tezos & staking era
Deep dive into proof-of-stake, governance, and secure delegation infrastructure.
2025 — Freedom Tech mentor
Advises network-state founders, publishes dispatches on sovereign computing.
04 — Principles
What I actually believe.
🔐
Privacy by default
Encryption should be on, not opt-in. Logs are liabilities. Minimize data, maximize dignity.
🌊
Exit over voice
If you can't leave, you can't negotiate. Build seasteads, forks, and alternatives.
⚖️
Code constrains power
Laws promise, math enforces. Prefer protocols over platforms, keys over permissions.
🧠
Resilience beats secrecy
Assume breach. Open source, reproduce builds, multi-jurisdiction redundancy.
Manifesto in 30 seconds
The internet was meant to route around censorship. Then we centralized it into five clouds and three app stores. My work is to decentralize it again — with cryptography, competition in governance, and hardware no one can seize with a single warrant.
Read the dispatches05 — Dispatches / Blog
News, essays & field notes.
Sovereign computing, crypto-opsec, seasteading lessons and internet freedom. Updated from the haven. Click any card to open the full article.
Get haven mail. No spam, no tracking.
One email per month: crypto-opsec checklists, seasteading notes, freedom-tech links.
06 — FAQ
Questions I get asked.
Who is Ryan Lackey?
American entrepreneur and security technologist, best known as founder of HavenCo (2000) — the Sealand-based data haven. Early cypherpunk, VPN pioneer, crypto investor and seasteading advocate.
What was HavenCo?
A company that hosted servers on Sealand, a former sea fort, to offer jurisdictional arbitrage for data. It proved demand for censorship-resistant hosting and inspired modern decentralized clouds.
What do you work on now?
Sovereign infrastructure: secure custody, staking, mesh and satellite connectivity, startup cities, and mentoring freedom-tech founders.
How to contact?
Use the contact block below. For sensitive matters, use PGP and keep it short — details are exchanged after trust is established.
07 — Contact
Build the free internet with me.
Founders, journalists, researchers — if you're working on jurisdiction, privacy or parallel institutions, reach out via this site. No middlemen.