The myths of blockchain governance

Ferreira, Daniel ORCID: 0000-0003-4590-8429 (2025) The myths of blockchain governance. Corporate Governance: an International Review. ISSN 1467-8683 (In Press)

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Abstract

Blockchain technology promises to revolutionize governance through strong commitments, trustlessness, and transparency. This paper examines how these promises have failed to materialize in practice. Drawing on case evidence from major blockchains, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, I argue that blockchains have evolved into technocracies where developers, foundations, and companies exercise disproportionate control. Rather than being exceptional, blockchain governance suffers from the same coordination problems, collective action failures, and centralization tendencies that plague traditional governance systems. The paper concludes that while blockchains offer valuable experiments in governance design, their alleged advantages over traditional institutions remain largely mythical.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© The Author
Divisions:	Finance
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HG Finance J Political Science
Date Deposited:	14 Oct 2025 00:18
Last Modified:	14 Oct 2025 17:51
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/129788

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