Cryptoeconomic Systems Lab - LexTech Institute

Cryptoeconomic Systems Lab

The recent rise in blockchain-based computer systems has resulted in new economic, legal and social tools that have challenged the current established institutions and led to a societal upheaval.

Cryptocurrencies, which were pioneered by bitcoin, have redefined the power balance between institutions and individuals by giving the latter access to a world-wide means of payment free of any form of central authority.

Smart contracts have broadened the scope of contractual relations by giving the possibility to enter in an immutable legal relationship in which the contractual services are automatically executed. Companies can now benefit form new forms of participatory financing, such as Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) through the use of smart contracts.

New forms of decentralized entities, such as Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs), can be created through governance rules that have been predefined in a series of smart contracts. DAOs allow their participants to organize, contract and raise funds in a digital environment.

The financial sector has been disrupted by the recent rise of Decentralized Finance (DeFi). Decentralized protocols that lack intermediaries are governed by DAOs and allow individuals to access financial products through the conclusion of smart contracts.

These examples illustrate how blockchain-induced technological innovation has led to the development of an array of digital tools that significantly impact all research fields.

Projects

Exploring the Laws for DAOs

Model Law for Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs)

NEDAO – The participative platform of tomorrow, for the people of Neuchâtel, by the people of Neuchâtel

Publications

Publications in the field of Law

Guillaume Florence (édit.), Decentralized Autonomous Organizations in the Legal Landscape: From Decentralized Governance to Legal Frontiers, Edward Elgar 2025 [to be published].

Guillaume Florence, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) Before State Courts. How can private international law keep up with global digital entities?, in Perestrelo de Oliveira Madalena/Garcia Rolo Antonio (édit.), Decentralised Autonomous Organization (DAO) Regulation: Principles and Perspectives for the Future, Tübingen 2024, p. 135-168.

Guillaume Florence/Riva Sven, Blockchain Dispute Resolution for Decentralized Autonomous Organizations, in : Bonomi Andrea/Lehmann Matthias (édit.), Blockchain and Private International Law, Leyde 2023, p. 549-641.

Guillaume Florence / Riva Sven, How to resolve a dispute involving a DAO, The FinReg Blog, 2022.

Constantino Ferreira Leonel, La résolution des litiges blockchain – Vers un arbitrage décentralisé ?, Master’s Thesis, University of Neuchâtel, 2021.

Guillaume Florence, L’effet disruptif des smart contracts et des DAOs sur le droit international privé, in: Richa Alexandre / Canapa Damiano (eds), Droit et économie numérique, Bern 2021, p. 35-59.

Guillaume Florence / Riva Sven, DAO, code et loi – Le régime technologique et juridique de la decentralized autonomous organization, Revue de droit international d’Assas (RDIA) 2021, p. 206-232.

Danz Martina, VAT Treatment of Cryptocurrencies – Some Thoughts on the Libra Project, International VAT Monitor, No. 3, Vol. 31, May 2020.

Guillaume Florence / Riva Sven, Launching the HCCH Service Convention into the Crypto Space, The HCCH Service Convention in the Era of Electronic and Information Technology, November 2020, p. 47-57.

Riva Sven, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) in the Swiss Legal Order, Yearbook of Private International Law, Volume 21 (2019/2020), p. 601-638.

Bosson Kilian, Smart Contracts and Swiss Obligation Law. The Conclusion “on the chain” of the contract, Master’s Thesis, University of Neuchâtel, 2019.

Carron Blaise / Botteron Valentin, How Smart Can a Contract Be?, in: Kraus Daniel/Obrist Thierry/Hari Olivier (eds), Blockchains, Smart Contracts, Decentralised Autonomous Organisations and the Law, Neuchâtel 2019, p. 101-143.

Danz Martina, Tax treatment related to tokens issued using blockchain technology, Master’s Thesis, University of Neuchâtel, 2019.

Guillaume Florence, Aspects of Private International Law Related to Blockchain Transactions, in: Kraus/Obrist/Hari (eds), Blockchains, Smart Contracts, Decentralised Autonomous Organizations and the Law, Cheltenham/Northampton 2019, p. 49-82.

Kraus Daniel / Boulay Charlotte, Blockchains: aspects of intellectual property law, in: Kraus Daniel/Obrist Thierry/Hari Olivier (eds), Blockchains, Smart Contracts, Decentralised Autonomous Organizations and the Law, Cheltenham/Northampton 2019, p. 240-271.

Kraus Daniel / Obrist Thierry / Hari Olivier (eds), Blockchains, Smart Contracts, Decentralised Autonomous Organizations and the Law, Cheltenham/Northampton 2019.

Müller Christoph, Die Smart Contracts aus Sicht des Schweizerischen Obligationenrechts, Zeitschrift des Bernischen Juristenvereins, Vol. 5, 2019, p. 330-352.

Obrist Thierry / Pfister Roland, Tax treatment of cryptocurrency holders and miners in the era of virtual currencies from a multijurisdictional and Swiss perspective in: Kraus Daniel/Obrist Thierry/Hari Olivier (eds), Blockchains, Smart Contracts, Decentralised Autonomous Organizations and the Law, Cheltenham/Northampton 2019, p. 299-349.

Riva Sven, Decentralized Atonomous Organizations (DAOs) as subjects of law. The recognition of DAOs in the Swiss legal order, Master’s Thesis, University of Neuchâtel, 2019.

Benkirane Rym, Le phénomène des Initial Coin Offerings, nouveau modèle financier ? – Approche juridique des émissions de jetons numériques, Master’s Thesis, University of Neuchâtel, 2018.

Carron Blaise / Botteron Valentin, Le droit des obligations face aux “contrats intelligents” : Blockchain, Smart Contracts et contrats de droit suisse, in: Carron Blaise/Müller Christoph (eds), 3e Journée des droits de la consommation et de la distribution : Blockchain et smart contracts, défis juridiques, Basel 2018, p. 1-50.

Carron Blaise / Müller Christoph (eds), 3e Journée des droits de la consommation et de la distribution : Blockchain et smart contracts, défis juridiques, Basel 2018.

Guillaume Florence, Blockchain: le pont du droit international privé entre l’espace numérique et l’espace physique, in: Pretelli Ilaria (ed.), Le droit international privé dans le labyrinthe des plateformes digitales, Geneva/Basel/Zurich 2018, p. 163-189.

Hug Dario, La protection du consommateur face aux nouvelles technologies de la conclusion et de l’exécution des contrats, in: Carron Blaise/Müller Christoph (eds), 3e Journée des droits de la consommation et de la distribution: Blockchain et smart contracts, défis juridiques, Basel 2018, p. 115 à 167.

Müller Christoph, Les “Smart Contracts” en droit suisse, in: Carron Blaise/Müller Christoph (eds), 3e Journée des droits de la consommation et de la distribution : Blockchain et smart contracts, défis juridiques, Basel 2018, p. 51-114.

Publications in the field of Science

Müller Christina / Brandenburger Marcus / Cachin Christian / Felber Pascal / Göttel Christian / Schiavoni Valerio, TZ4Fabric: Executing Smart Contracts with ARM TrustZone, in: Proceedings of SRDS 2020, Shangai 2020.

L’Hutereau Arnaud / Burihabwa Dorian / Felber Pascal / Mercier Hugues / Schiavoni Valerio, Blockchain-based Metadata Protection for Archival Systems, in: Proceedings of SRDS 2019, Lyon 2019.

Barbi Roberta / Burihabwa Dorian / Felber Pascal / Mercier Hugues / Schiavoni Valerio, RECAST : Random Entanglement for Censorship-resistant Archival STorage, in: Proceedings of DSN 2018, Luxembourg 2018.