Tlon’s influence is also reflected in the distribution of Urbit IDs: the critic and technologist Francis Tseng calculated that, as of 2019, 185 of Urbit’s 256 galaxies were owned by Tlon, Tlon employees, and Urbit Foundation employees. That group also accounted for almost 38,000 of the network’s 65,500 stars. Despite the project’s lip service to decentralization, address space ownership is highly concentrated.

When Urbit hit an impasse in 2024, it became clear that only one person was really in charge. That person is Curtis Yarvin. Urbit’s governance structure is, and has ultimately always been, a direct outgrowth of Yarvin’s monarchist political vision, where Yarvin inhabits the position of (in his own words) “the prince.”