Collaborate in a virtual state.
Hub Culture is the world's oldest network state — founded in 2002 to connect global citizens around identity, value, and shared experience. Our mission is to enhance collective consciousness as we build the infrastructure for the first virtual state: a society where identity, currency, governance, and physical presence are owned by members and accessible everywhere.
Learn about our founding principles →
What We Do
Hub Culture operates at the intersection of three enduring functions:
- Identity — HubID, a sovereign digital identity owned by the member, now credentialled for AI agents, institutions, and the emerging agent economy.
- Finance — Ven, a global digital reserve currency since 2007, and the Ultra asset exchange for digital value in the community.
- Presence — Pavilions, physical and virtual spaces in key global cities designed for collaboration, deal-making, and encounter.
Around these three pillars sits a growing ecosystem: Zeke (AI concierge and emergent intelligence), AGREE (digital contracts and knowledge brokerage), Propel and Coalition (governance tools), AQUA (health and travel safety), OAI (real-time auditing), and Emerald City (Hub Culture's virtual city). The Ven Digital Asset Fund and the Ocean Climate Fund are investment-based initiatives uniting the community for collective financial action.
Hub Culture helps members build worth. Content is curated with the help of knowledge-rich experts, and collaboration tools — Hubs, wikis, contracts, voting and ESG budgeting — make it possible to create, govern, and transact across the network.
Now: Hub Culture today
The ICON — Vital House, Davos 2026
The ICON is Hub Culture's most ambitious physical project to date: a regenerative, modular, and mobile structure that debuted at Davos 2025 and returned in 2026 as Vital House, in partnership with West Health, Gates Ventures, Gallup, and Aon. Vital House explored longevity and healthy living in the context of innovation, alpine lifestyle, and harmony with nature.
Imagined, originally designed and commissioned by Hub Culture, then developed with BYLD, the ICON is a study in "dwell-time" for the 21st century — sitting at the intersections of mobility, electric transport, convenience, and data. Working with Hedera, the ICON also maintains a full digital life, with fabrication, assembly, and use integrated into the blockchain. Learn more at HubIcon.co →
Davos 2026 sessions at the ICON included the V-LAB Vitality Sessions — exploring AI and humanity, brain health investment, longevity economics, and the lived experience of healthcare globally. Read: Investing Upstream →
Hub Amazônia and COP30 Belém
Hub Culture established a Climate Campus in Belém, Brazil for COP30 — the most significant climate gathering of the decade, held at the edge of the Amazon rainforest. Following the Campus, Hub Culture launched Hub Amazônia: a three-year programme anchored on the Amazônia bioregion, including a long-term partnership with Náutica Clube do Remo and support for rowing scholarships for young women in the region, building toward the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The programme includes coordination with the Ocean Climate Fund to support Blue Carbon investment, coral regeneration, and ocean data initiatives in the Atlantic and Amazon coastal areas. The digital multirão initiative from the Vibe Coding for the Amazon hackathon is also taking shape through COP30 connections.
Read: Hub Amazônia outcomes and commitments → | Read: Sunlight on the Amazon → | Join the Belém Hub →
The .hub TLD
Hub Culture, in partnership with Unstoppable Domains, is launching the .hub top-level domain — opening a new era for digital identity, tokenization, and web3-native presence. The .hub TLD is an extension of HubID's role as sovereign infrastructure for the agent economy, enabling members to establish persistent, portable addresses across digital and physical networks.
HubID and the Agent Economy
HubID has evolved from a member identity tool into foundational infrastructure for the AI agent economy. Credentialling enables HubID participants to establish verified presence across AI agents, robots, geographic specks, and institutional networks. Persona, Professional, Educational, and ESG social graphs are available at verified citizenship levels — establishing the trust layer for both human and AI-to-AI commerce. Learn more about HubID →
The Chronicles Podcast
Hub Culture presents: The Chronicle Discussions is Hub Culture's flagship podcast — a running record of the conversations that matter. Hosted by Hub Culture founder Stan Stalnaker, the series began at Davos 2020 and has grown to over 126 episodes, recorded live at the world's most consequential gatherings.
Episodes have been recorded at Davos, COP26 Glasgow, COP27, COP28 Dubai, COP30 Belém, Burning Man, Climate Week NYC, Cannes Lions, Bermuda, and beyond. Core themes include AI and the future of work, HubID and digital identity, Hedera and tokenization, Amazon and indigenous rights, ocean health, nature governance, non-ordinary consciousness, space colonization, and geopolitical risk.
Selected episodes:
- Ep. 126 — PNG Marine Crisis: ocean health on the frontlines
- Ep. 110 — Putting the Ocean First
- Ep. 90 — The Power of Listening, with Topher White of Rainforest Connection — live from COP28 Dubai
- Ep. 88 — Live from Burning Man 2023: The Ministry of Advanced Cultural Affairs
- Ep. 79 — Tokenizing Climate with Hedera
- Ep. 77 — Gigaton Solutions for Climate, live from Climate Week NYC and UN General Assembly
- Ep. 60 — Chia: The Green Blockchain, live from ICE Hub COP26 Glasgow
Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Watch video coverage at Hub Culture Video →
Our History
It all began in 2002 with the publication of the book Hub Culture: The Next Wave of Urban Consumers — one of the first explorations of global social communities. HubCulture.com was founded to provide a meeting place for the globally mobile influentials described in the book. Stan Stalnaker's 2008 Harvard Business Review essay on peer-to-peer networks was named that year's lead breakthrough idea.
In 2005, Hub Culture began creating Pavilions — longer-term projects in key places. The first Pop Pavilion appeared on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro, with others following in Miami and St. Moritz. Today over 70,000 people have visited over 35 Pavilions worldwide, from Austin to Davos, Ibiza, Burning Man, Cannes, Venice, and Belém.
In 2007, Hub Culture introduced Ven — first available on Facebook on July 4, 2007 — as the world's first digital reserve currency. Today Ven is priced in real time against a basket of currencies, commodities, and carbon futures. Hundreds of millions of units have circulated as the original model for digital value exchange.
In 2009, Hub Culture Pavilions appeared in Copenhagen for COP15 and the first Pavilion appeared in Davos.
In 2014, Hub Culture began building HubID to put identity ownership into the hands of members.
in 2017, Hub Culture announced Zeke.ai and began integrating artificial intelligence across its social graph and functional services built on its citizen services agent called Zeke.
In 2018, Ven launched a gateway to blockchains with an integration onto Ethereum.
In 2020, the Chronicles podcast launched at Davos, becoming an ongoing record of the network's intellectual life. Hub Culture also created the AQUA system tied to HubID to manage healthcare and COVID-19 related services for its citizens.
In 2021–2022, Hub Culture re-established a presence at successive COPs — Glasgow, Sharm el-Sheikh, Dubai — with the ICEHub, Future Mobility Hub, Climate Campus and climate-focused programming.
In 2024–2025, the ICON was conceived and built with BYLD, debuting at Davos 2025. In 2025, Hub Culture expanded its Hedera integration and launched the .hub TLD partnership with Unstoppable Domains, positioning HubID as identity infrastructure for the AI agent economy. Hub Culture ran its Climate Campus at COP30 Belém, launching Hub Amazônia as a three-year bioregional commitment.
In 2026, the ICON returned to Davos as Vital House. Hub Culture announced CARE.HUB, a co-living initative for active adults, and began planning for the AGENT, a Zeke.ai led merger between physical space and the metaverse. The Asian Corridors Salon Series convened across Singapore, Hong Kong, Guangzhou, and Bangkok.
Ven
Ven Finance Ltd. manages Ven, a global digital currency that values nature. It is the world's most stable digital asset and can be traded instantly and securely to any email address, phone number, or cryptographic wallet address. Ven drives activity on Ultra, a digital asset exchange, and is the native currency of the Hub Culture ecosystem. For exchange rates, visit Ven.vc →
Pavilions
Pavilion projects in key global hubs enhance the mission of Hub Culture to drive deals and enhance consciousness. Hub Pavilions combine the virtual and physical in formats that are carbon-efficient, innovation-rich, and community-driven. They shorten commutes, aggregate resources, and cross-fertilize ideas, companies, and capital.
Pavilions both temporary and permanent have appeared in Austin, Baku, Beijing, Belém, Bermuda, Burning Man, Cancun, Cannes, Copenhagen, Costa Rica, Croatia, Davos, Dubai, Durban, Ho Chi Minh City, Ibiza, London, Los Angeles, Kauai, Madrid, Marrakech, Miami, New York City, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Sacramento, Sharm el-Sheikh, St. Moritz, and Venice. See current Pavilions →
Knowledge & Governance
The combined knowledge of the network delivers vibrant opportunity for deal-making. AGREE enables rapid digital contracts and deal flow brokerage at three levels: Exchange, Services, and Brokerage. Knowledge Contracts enable all members to quickly execute binding agreements.
Propel and Coalition provide governance rules, voting systems, and multi-party frameworks for any group or organisation. The Open Audit Initiative provides real-time auditing and transparency for the community. Bermuda Standard is a growing repository of shared data attributes to improve cooperation at the nation-state level.
Hub Culture is represented in 130+ hubs around the world, with knowledge brokers assisting members in their home regions.
Get Started
Join Hub Culture — core membership is always free →
- To learn about membership tiers, visit hubculture.com/membership
- To obtain, exchange, or invest in Ven, visit Ven.vc or the Ven page
- To obtain HubID, create an account and use the HubID menu to build your aura
- To access Knowledge Services and contracts, visit the Knowledge Portal
- To speak with a Hub Culture representative, call toll free +1 844 HUB CULTURE or email us
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