Chair for Private Law & Blockchain

What happens to private law when digitalisation, blockchain, and smart contracts transform how companies, associations, and foundations operate? The Chair for Private Law & Blockchain at ZIBR investigates the legal implications of decentralised technologies for governance, responsibility, and compliance. This research explores how blockchain intersects with company law, foundation law, and the law of associations, as well as with the broader digital economy and issues of responsible business conduct.

Blockchain and the Digital Economy

Smart contracts, blockchain-based transactions, and artificial intelligence pose new challenges for private law. The chair examines how legal frameworks must adapt to govern digital economies while ensuring security, fairness, and enforceability.

Corporate and Capital Market Law

Digitalisation is reshaping corporate structures and capital markets. The chair investigates how company law, securities regulation, and compliance frameworks need to evolve to address emerging risks and opportunities in blockchain-based ecosystems.

Foundations, Philanthropy, and Governance

Research also focuses on associations, foundations, and non-profit organisations, exploring how blockchain and digitalisation affect governance, accountability, and the pursuit of social good. Topics include corporate philanthropy, responsible business conduct, and compliance in an era of digital transformation.

This chair explores how private law must evolve when blockchain, smart contracts, and digitalisation transform corporations, foundations, and markets.

Ass.-Prof. Dr. Claude Humbel

Assistant Professor for Private Law and Blockchain

Get to know the Chair

The Chair for Private Law & Blockchain works to deepen the academic and practical understanding of how decentralized technologies affect private legal systems. Its research informs policymakers, businesses, and non-profits on governance, responsibility, and compliance in the digital age.