Kleros

Most people don’t realize that trustless, costless stablecoin escrows — the crypto equivalent of chargebacks — already exist. They’re called optimistic workflows. With them, you don’t need to sacrifice decentralization or pay 5–10% to a trusted custodian just to replicate the protections of PayPal, Visa, or Mastercard. And true to the spirit of Web3, most of them are free to use. How it works: In an optimistic workflow, transactions are innocent until proven guilty. Funds are locked in a smart contract and released automatically after a predefined dispute window — unless someone raises a challenge. No dispute? No fees. Dispute? Then a decentralized arbitrator like UMA or Kleros steps in — using Schelling point game theory to align jurors around the honest outcome. Example: Let’s say Alice hires Bob to design a website. She wants to pay in Circle's USDC, but only after the work is done. Here’s how an optimistic escrow might work: 1. Alice deposits USDC into an escrow smart contract. 2. The funds are locked for 7 days (the “dispute window”). 3. If no dispute is raised, funds are released to Bob automatically — no fees charged (besides gas). 4. If a dispute is raised: - The disputing party sends a refundable deposit. - If the other party responds with a matching deposit, the case goes to decentralized arbitration. - The jury rules; the winner gets their deposit back. The loser’s deposit pays the jurors. - If the other party doesn’t respond in time (e.g. 3 days), the first party wins optimistically. Optimistic workflows are already powering: 🟣 Kleros Escrow and SafeSnap 🟢 UMA oSnap 🧾 Escrowly.eth.limo 🔒 Lockler.eth.limo 🌉 Across Protocol, Optimism, Arbitrum, and more (in different forms) So before you start building, buying or paying for any escrow solution for your #stablecoin project/functionalities, check out these projects first as they are practically free to use and can be integrated into any workflow. 🫡 #web3 #stablecoin #stablecoins #defi #dao #smartcontract #escrow #optimistic #ethereum #USDC

"When Codes Meet Courtrooms - Examining the Enforceability of Blockchain Based Arbitral Awards under the New York Convention and Indian Law" by Piyush Senapati and Parul Anand published in the Indian Arbitration Law Review. With many mentions to Kleros! Check it out! https://lnkd.in/dGEnHSQ9

🔍 Decentralized Justice: a New Legal Paradigm This is the presentation I gave at the Mechanism Design for Decentralized Justice conference we hosted at King’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence on April 24. In under 20 minutes, I share a bit of my personal journey, what inspired me to build a project at the intersection of law and technology, how Kleros came to life, some of our key milestones — and the challenges that lie ahead. If you’re curious about Kleros or want a crash course on decentralized justice, this is a great place to start. 👉 https://lnkd.in/dRWqJiEp

End of a wonderful Kleros evangelization trip through Switzerland and France.🇨🇭🇫🇷 It began with the “Crypto Arbitration Forum” in Zurich, a small event that brought together some of the world’s leading arbitration firms. We explored the impact of technology on arbitration and the emergence of new scenarios—such as disputes arising within and between DAOs. The journey continued with a class at the University of Neuchâtel, Faculty of Law, organized by the amazing Florence Guillaume and her team at the LexTech Institute. Sven Riva Leonel Ferreira And finally, my annual class in the Legaltech Program at Assas Future of Law, where I taught students about blockchain, smart contracts, company building, and of course, decentralized justice. In every stop, it’s exciting to see how many people—both from academia and legal practice—are joining the decentralized justice movement around the world. From seasoned lawyers in big law and universities to young students taking their first steps in the field. Now, time to head home (and maybe get some rest! 🤣) before the next stop on the decentralized justice world tour: the Ethereum France Conference in early July. There, I’ll be giving a talk on the intersection of AI and Kleros—and how decentralized justice can be used for AI alignment. See you soon! 🫶

As a dispute resolution lawyer currently working with Web3 projects, I’ve been exploring ways to bridge these two fields. That’s how I first discovered Kleros — a DAO offering decentralized arbitration services for crypto-related disputes. It was an absolute pleasure meeting Federico Ast today at the 3rd Crypto Arbitration Forum and hearing the story behind this remarkable project. The event was truly inspiring, with outstanding professionals sharing their experiences in DAO governance and dispute resolution. Many thanks to Charlie Morgan, Bianca Kremer and other amazing speakers for their insights — you can only learn such invaluable lessons from practicing professionals!

Heureux d’avoir de nouveau participé en tant qu’intervenant au diplome de Legal Tech à Assas Future of Law Lors de cet atelier, j’ai aidé mes étudiants/juristes à développer leur projet legaltech pour différents secteurs, notamment l’assurance, l’industrie minière et le droit du travail. Ils ont utilisé une combinaison de technologies telles que la blockchain, la justice décentralisée, les agents d’IA et les plateformes numériques. Merci pour l’invitation — à l’année prochaine ! — Happy to have participated once again as a lecturer in the Legal Technology program at Assas. In this workshop, I helped my students/lawyers develop their legaltech projects for various industries, including insurance, mining, and labor law. They used a combination of technologies such as blockchain, decentralized justice, AI agents, and digital platforms. Thanks for having me—see you next year!

Decentralized Justice in Switzerland! 🇨🇭

Bonjour Paris! 🇫🇷 Heureux d’être de retour pour enseigner le cours sur l’arbitrage blockchain et la justice décentralisée à Assas Future of Law ! Les étudiants découvriront les bases de la blockchain, des contrats intelligents, des DAOs et de Kleros, tout en construisant une entreprise legaltech ! — Happy to be here again to teach the class on blockchain arbitration and decentralized justice at Assas Future of Law! Students will learn the basics of blockchain, smart contracts, DAOs and Kleros as they build a legaltech company!

We've teamed up with Kleros to bring Shutter API's Shielded Voting to Court V2. Shutter API will handle vote encryption & reveal - without requiring trust in a single party. A huge step toward simpler, more secure juror voting. Learn about the upcoming integration: https://lnkd.in/gyq-U2a3

Next few days on the Decentralized Justice Evangelization Tour! 🇨🇭 May 20, Zurich: “Arbitrating Crypto and DAO Disputes: Business as Usual, Reform or Revolution?” https://lnkd.in/dxmREDvA 🇨🇭 May 21, Neuchâtel: “La résolution des litiges blockchain - Sagesse de la foule vs. justice étatique” https://lnkd.in/dvDU58iT 🇫🇷 May 26 & 28, Paris: My annual guest lecture on blockchain and decentralized justice at the "Diplôme d’Université Transformation numérique du droit & LegalTech" at Assas Future of Law. Feel free to message me if you’re around and would like to connect! See you soon!