Floating Island Project Pushes On, Without Peter Thiel’s Support

Peter Thiel was once a seavangelist. The libertarian billionaire had advocated and funded plans for a network of man-made islands floating on the ocean and operating as high-tech ecotopias free of governmental rule. Now, as one prominent venture raises a new round of financing and sets a 2021 deadline for deploying the first islands, the investor is no longer onboard.

The project, called Blue Frontiers, raised $1.4 million this month through a pre-sale of digital tokens that would give buyers a residency claim on future islands and a vote in their charters. Thiel didn’t buy any coins and hasn’t contributed to the effort since 2014. Blue Frontiers has yet to attain anywhere close to the amount of money or government support needed to get the project off the dock. A person familiar with Thiel’s thinking said he helped launch the effort through a charitable gift and has stepped back support because he believes the commercial project must be self-sustaining to work.