“Digital Assets and Private International Law” – Conference in Vienna on 11 and 12 April 2024
On 11 and 12 April 2024, an international conference on the current topic of the appropriate approach to digital assets in PIL cases will take place at the University of Vienna in a hybrid format. For the impressive speakers list, including internationally renowned academics as well as representatives from UNIDROIT and the HCCH, please refer to the conference announcement below, which was kindly provided by the organizers:
Digital Assets and Private International Law
Conference
11 and 12 April 2024 in Vienna
Outline
Digital assets, such as cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and other tokens, have become important as objects of investment and trade. They are recorded on the blockchain, an electronic ledger held in identical form on servers (nodes) all over the world. Therefore, the determination of the governing law presents particular challenges. This conference will explore whether Private International Law methodology can be successfully applied to digital assets or whether it needs to be changed in light of the ‘blockchain revolution’.
Date 11 and 12 April 2024
Place Juridicum, Schottenbastei 10-16, A-1010 Vienna, roof top floor
Format
The conference will take place in a hybrid format. Speakers and participants will meet in the Juridicum. The proceedings will be streamed simultaneously online. Registration (both for physical attendance and online participation) can be made until 6 April 2024 by email at the following address: service.rechtsvergleichung@univie.ac.at. Participation is free but registration compulsory.
Programme
Thursday, 11 April 2024
| Time | Topic | Speaker |
| 13.00 | Registration and Coffee | |
| 14.00 | Inauguration | Prof. Brigitta Zöchling-Jud,
Dean of the Law School of the University of Vienna |
| 14.10 | Welcome Address | Dr. Thomas Gstädtner, President of Supervisory Board, EBI |
| 14.15 | Introduction | Prof. Matthias Lehmann, University of Vienna and Radboud University of Nijmegen |
|
Part 1 – Overarching Issues |
||
| 14.30 | Do We Need a ‘Blockchain Revolution’ in Private International Law? | Prof. Andrea Bonomi, University of Lausanne |
| 14.45 | Proprietary Rights in Digital and Other Assets and the Conflict of Laws | Prof. Christiane Wendehorst, University of Vienna |
| 15.00 | The Law Applicable to Payments, Tokenisation and Contracting on Cross-border Digital Platforms | Prof. Dr. Gérardine Goh Escolar, Hague Conference on Private International Law |
| 15.15 | Which Role for Consumer Law in Blockchain Transactions? | Prof. Teresa Rodriguez de las Herras Ballell, UNIDROIT/University Carlos III Madrid |
| 15.30 | Discussion | |
| 16.00 | Coffee Break | |
|
Part 2 – Law Applicable to Digital Assets |
||
| 16.30 | Money or Securities as the Paradigm for Digital Assets? | Dr. Burku Yüksel, University of Aberdeen |
| 16.45 | A Single Law for the Blockchain vs. Layer-, Protocol- or Asset-Specific Law | Dr. Augustin Gridel, University of Lorraine |
| 17.00 | Choice of Law for Digital Assets –Technical Possibilities and Legal Conditions | Prof. Florian Heindler, Sigmund Freud University Vienna |
| 17.15 | Discussion | |
| 17.45 | Summary and Conclusion of the First Day | Prof. Matthias Lehmann, University of Vienna and Radboud University of Nijmegen |
| 19.00 | Speakers’ Dinner | |
Friday, 12 April 2024
| Time | Topic | Speaker |
| 08.30 | Coffee | |
| Part 3 – Law Governing Blockchain Transactions | ||
| 09.00 | The Determination of the Law of Custody and Its Importance for Digital Assets | Prof. Matthias Haentjens, University of Leiden |
| 09.15 | Secured Transactions in Digital Assets | Prof. Spiridon Bazinas, Sigmund Freud University Vienna (online) |
| 09.30 | The Law Applicable to Staking | Dr. Fabio Andreotti, Bitcoin Suisse AG |
| 09.45 | Decentralized Finance (DeFi) – Which Law is Governing the Entities, which the Transactions? | Dr. Pascal Favrod-Coune, Aegis Partners |
| 10.00 | Discussion | |
| 10.30 | Coffee Break | |
| Part 4 – Law Governing Particular Issues | ||
| 11.00 | The Law Governing Private Relations and Liability on the Network | Prof. Tobias Lutzi, University of Augsburg |
| 11.15 | The Law Governing Trade Finance Tokens | Prof. Koji Takahashi, Doshisha University (online) |
| 11.30 | Determining the Law Governing Smart Contracts | Dr. Jasper Verstappen, University of Groningen |
| 11.45 | Discussion
|
|
| 12.15 | Summary and Conclusion | Prof. Matthias Lehmann, University of Vienna and Radboud University of Nijmegen |
About the Interdisciplinary Association of Comparative and Private International Law (IACPIL)
IACPIL is a platform for discussing issues in comparative law and private international law. The association is based in Vienna, where it organises events on current topics, fundamental issues, and methodological questions. Its members reflect a broad professional base rooted in the academic, judicial, and administrative fields, and are also joined by translators and specialists from international organisations.
The association is a critically scrutinising forum. Interdisciplinary topics with legal, political, historical, social, economic, and cultural dimensions are frequently considered. In this way, IACPIL endeavours to promote a modern, humane, and social regulation of cross-border conflicts.
About the European Banking Institute (EBI)
The EBI is an international centre based in Frankfurt for banking studies resulting from the joint venture of Europe’s preeminent academic institutions which have decided to share and coordinate their commitments and structure their research activities in order to provide the highest quality legal, economic and accounting studies in the field of banking regulation, banking supervision and banking resolution in Europe.
EBI aims to become a point of reference in the research of banking regulation research in Europe. By promoting the dialogue between scholars, regulators, supervisors, industry representatives and advisors in relation to issues concerning the regulation and supervision of financial institutions and financial markets from a legal, economic and any other related viewpoint, the close relationship with regulators, supervisors, and private sector is expected to guarantee a one-of-its-kind academic research production.
