Blockchain based organizations and the governance of on-chain and off-chain rules: towards an autonomous (legal) orders ?

Distributed ledger technologies in general and blockchain in particular are not just technologies but also a way through which to interpret and apply decentralization and distribution. In particular, blockchain technology allows for the trade, management and control of data validated within it, without the need of a central authority. The sovereignty of nation states and of the whole international community is then at risk. In fact, blockchain based organizations are deemed to operate as autonomous legal orders, ruled and governed by their own on-chain rules, forming the so-called lex cryptographia. This chapter will instead show that, besides these so-called on-chain rules, no blockchain based organization can rid itself of neither the national provisions nor the principles of international law. It is therefore left to understand how on-chain and off-chain rules combine to govern and manage blockchain based organizations