Web3 and the Quest for a Global Legal Advisory — Introducing the Blockchain Lawyers Group
Presentation of the new global network of independent legal experts in blockchain and crypto related matters, which intends to become the go-to place for people, DAOs, projects and service providers who are in need of qualified legal advice.
A. Why do we need a global legal advisory?
1. A fragmented legal landscape
In its public and permissionless version, blockchain technology does not encounter boundaries set by national borders. Digital organizations and decentralized protocols gather people from different parts of the world. Legal challenges are increasingly becoming more sophisticated due to the required technical knowledge and the legal uncertainty concerning the scope of existing laws.
Given the features of blockchain technology, one might think that legislation all over the world will tend to converge and give common answers to the legal problems. This is not happening so far: national and regional legal systems are taking divergent directions from a methodological and a substantive point of view.
Within the Western world the peak is represented by the US-EU dualism. Through the competent authorities, the former has pursued a “regulation by enforcement” strategy, whereby the last chapter of the surprising interventions affecting the crypto-industry is the CFTC charging a DAO for illegal activities concerning transactions in digital assets. On the other side, European Institutions are shaping a landmark regulation called MiCA, that will precisely regulate aspects on token issuance, stablecoins and market abuses. Moreover, MiCA will be an important reference for crypto asset service providers seeking to engage with EU based customers — with some envisaging an extraterritorial effect, similar to GDPR.
In other areas of the world, the picture looks entirely different, ranging from the well-known Chinese ban to the unfriendly Indian crypto-tax provisions and arriving to areas where blockchain and crypto are completely unregulated. Some jurisdictions, as Switzerland and Lichtenstein, show some support for the new technologies.
2. International character of Web3 organizations
Difficulties in legal advisory are not only related to the fragmented legal landscape but also to the extreme internationalization of Web3 organizations driven by the use of social networks and blockchain technology. More often than not, the issues most legal practitioners are presented with involve cross-border advisory.
Multinational corporations are quite common, but Web3 organizations show some peculiar features from the very early stages. It is not uncommon to have three founders of a project located in three different parts of the world. This means that legal conditions for the place of incorporation, tax matters and compliance requirements need to be carefully considered in the light of different legal systems. Moreover, blockchain legal issues involve several fields of expertise: corporate law, contract law, financial and securities’ law, IP law, tax law, immigration law, etc.
On the one hand, a single — although experienced — crypto lawyer cannot face these types of tasks alone. On the other hand, founders may struggle to orientate themselves in such a complicated environment. Some guidance and a proper organization capable to tackle these challanges seem therefore needed.
B. How to create a web3 global legal advisory?
1. Need of a new paradigm
Big law firms are sometimes made up of thousands of lawyers and assist clients in almost every corner of the world. Many of these have set up specialized desks devoted to crypto and fintech and provide worldwide advisory to their clients. However, big law firms can be cost-prohibitive for early stage projects. In addition, most of these lawyers are not used to working with devs in the peculiar crypto environment and do not share the Web3 ethos.
It is becoming increasingly clearer that one should not underestimate the capabilities of lawyers who are members of the blockchain and crypto community and understand the technological background.
Most often than not, finding the right lawyer — someone who really understands the ecosystem, technology and the involved legal risks — is a problem for native Web3 projects and individuals. This has also been a struggle for lawyers in the blockchain ecosystem who often require local counsel expertise due to the immanent international nature of most questions they are posed.
2. The Blockchain Lawyers Group and its directory
The described situation sparked the creation of Blockchain Lawyers Group, an association that purports to connect a global network of independent legal experts in blockchain and crypto related matters. Its first goal is to increase the ease of access to competent and qualified legal advice around the globe. Lawyers with experience in advising Web3 companies and professionals will be featured in a public directory in accordance with their jurisdiction through an NFT membership model.
The directory shall ensure that its members in every jurisdiction are knowledgeable and tech-savvy, capable of providing world-class legal advice due to their qualifications and high-quality local expertise. It will feature members who may render professional services on an individual basis. Some might also propose to collaborate with law firms where the requested services so require to ensure full-service advisory. Members of the Blockchain Lawyers Group may also collaborate to offer cross-jurisdictional services.
All members are subject to a pre-approval process to assess their qualifications in the jurisdiction of the acquired NFT. Such a process shall begin after the candidate submits a form with the information to be presented in the directory.
C. The benefits of being part of the Blockchain Lawyers Group
It is important to sum up the benefits that the association grants to its members:
- be featured in a public directory alongside more than hundreds of recognized peers;
- have access to a project management tool for international workstreams;
- benefit from a free advice policy between members;
- join a Discord server with national and regional channels to meet and discuss other legal experts;
- participate in educational events;
- be granted the opportunity to write opinion pieces in relevant Web3 media outlets; and
- be invited to members-only physical events around the world.
Blockchain Lawyers Group has partnered with Dework, a leading Web3-native project management tool, to provide members with an easy and effective way to manage international projects. Members may notify others in specific jurisdictions to request a fee quote for a specific scope of services and freely collaborate in a private dashboard.
We promote a free advice policy between members. Each shall have the ability to contact other members for straightforward legal advice in the form of simple yes/no questions. As a rule of thumb, these should generally take no more than 15 minutes to analyze and reply to.
Members will find ongoing discussions on current news and trends in the Blockchain Lawyers Group’s Discord Server. Also, the general group will allow everyone to make personal connections with high-quality Web3 legal experts around the world. Additionally, each jurisdiction shall have a separate channel only with the members belonging to that jurisdiction.
In due time, our members shall also have the opportunity to write opinion articles on several Web3 media outlets. Blockchain Lawyers Group may also publish a newsletter.
Every year, we plan to host members-only physical events around the world. These will be a place to share knowledge and business experiences, but, most importantly, to connect with other members. These events may take the form of conferences or informal gatherings.
D. Positioning and Partnerships
The Blockchain Lawyers Group is a great supporter of Web3 legal initiatives such as LexDAO, Lex_PunK, the Bankless DAO Legal Guild and LegalDAO. We appreciate the educational role and the guidance provided by such organizations. Many members of the Blockchain Lawyers Group are also members of the aforementioned Web3 legal organizations and will continue to provide their contribution.
Ultimately, we encourage no competition in the Web3 legal environment. The new association wishes to collaborate on joint educational projects, position papers and guidance. Nonetheless, its main focus will be on creating the perfect infrastructure to get a high level legal advisory for Web3 native projects and businesses in the field of blockchain. The Blockchain Lawyers Group intends to become the go-to place for people, DAOs, projects and service providers who are in need of qualified legal advice.
In this regard, the Blockchain Lawyers Group is building solid partnerships with Web3 accelerators and VCs, from all over the world, that will refer to the association for obtaining legal assistance.
E. Conclusion
Our members are trailblazers who understand the needs of the Web3 ecosystem as they are a part of it. Our legal professionals have experience in advising both individuals and businesses in the blockchain ecosystem. Moreover, all members have access to other legal minds from across the globe to share and debate ideas to better advise blockchain projects.
We are confident that industry participants will take advantage of the directory to talk to some of the world’s leading Web3 legal experts.
With the Blockchain Lawyers Group, you will find a leading Web3 lawyer, anywhere!
