Is arbitration really the way to go in settling disputes in the crypto industry? If we are talking about small cases then I think three parties can do it but if we are talking about big civil and criminal cases then I think we need the judicial system to handle it for us. Settling disputes is something being already done now in our world and with the crypto industry I don't think it will work well. For on most cases we have are either from scams or stolen crypto both of which cannot be solved without seeking any help from the government. Think about a decentralized law helping us, do you think it would be any better on our part?
I support this opinion. Think of cryptocurrency not as a thing that is bigger than anything, it is still part of the cyberspace and saying that you should have a decentralized law which could be subjected to many reforms, plus a lot of things can happens while this is implemented, this law sounds like just a netiquette. If people are voting to pursue this, then governing bodies will have to agree on and your suggested rules and regulations will again be subjected to laws that will conform different country. On a side note, cryptocurrency is very hard to govern because this was its selling point from the very start, the anonymity it offers.
This process of interaction of decentralized law with national governments I have named Legal Reflexivity. I got this idea from George Soros. He applies it to finance, though. For example, most people base their valuation of a stock price on the fundamentals of a company. The amount of profit. Costs. Etc. But if a stock tanks, it might also affect the fundamentals of the company. Maybe a bank wants to see a higher interest rate on a loan, or suppliers start to charge differently. So not only do the fundamentals influence the stock price, the stock price also influences the fundamentals. Their relationship is reflexive.
The same can be seen in the legal systems. Judges and legislators don't live in a bubble, they are influenced by market practices, news and public opinions. If you can influence this, you influence the law (George Soros is, some might say unfortunately, very good at this). The process of law creation is not linear, and governments look at how things are done around the world. As such, private parties can massively influence law creation (in certain areas). Examples have been given above.
If crypto communities come up with their own rules and standards for cooperation that are fair and clear governments really don't have much to say about it. And maybe they might incorporate some ideas because why reinvent the wheel? Just look at what has happened with copyright licenses, for example. Non of this is new...
Thank you for introducing me to the concept of netiquette. I didn't know it.
