Permissionlessness" is a term often used in association with public blockchains. In this glossary entry, we explore the origins, evolution, and coexisting uses and meanings of the term "permissionless" to contextualise it. We argue that a technosocial system is deemed permissionless if it is...

There is no one set definition for the phrase "ad hoc networks". The term refers to the ability for members of a network to establish a network connection between devices. Ad hoc networks are relevant both in technical terms of certain network infrastructures, as well as in terms of the social,...

Accountability refers to a relationship of responsibility, answerability, and enforceability between individuals and groups. In contrast to traditional institutions that rely on enforcement of accountability through traditional legal frameworks, blockchain systems rely on the "rule of code",...

Privacy is a quality relating to human data that is typically governed by legal principles or guidelines for how private entities should conduct in relation to user data. The idea in blockchain systems is that privacy principles can be established and enforced data through software code, to...

Between 5 and 7 June 2023, the BlockchainGov ERC Project (Grant No. 865856) organized a conference on "Blockchain Constitutionalism: The Role of Legitimacy in Polycentric Systems" at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute in Florence, Italy. Blockchain...

This report synthesizes the insights explored within the ERC BlockchainGov reading group on "Legitimacy in Blockchain," taking place bi-weekly from July 2021 until June 2022. The report investigates the role of legitimacy in blockchain systems from descriptive, conceptual, and normative...

Blockchain-based “Decentralized Autonomous Organizations” (DAOs) communities risk perpetuating the 1990s Californian Ideology of techno-elitism in their imaginary of “autonomy” via technological determinism, free-market economics, and “engineering” approach to social and political...

Permissionlessness" is a term often used in association with public blockchains. In this glossary entry, we explore the origins, evolution, and coexisting uses and meanings of the term "permissionless" to contextualise it. We argue that a technosocial system is deemed permissionless if it is...

There is no one set definition for the phrase "ad hoc networks". The term refers to the ability for members of a network to establish a network connection between devices. Ad hoc networks are relevant both in technical terms of certain network infrastructures, as well as in terms of the social,...

Accountability refers to a relationship of responsibility, answerability, and enforceability between individuals and groups. In contrast to traditional institutions that rely on enforcement of accountability through traditional legal frameworks, blockchain systems rely on the "rule of code",...