Skip to the main content

Primavera De Filippi is a Director of Research at the National Center of Scientific Research (CNRS) in Paris, Faculty Associate at the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, and Visiting Fellow at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies at the European University Institute.

Her research focuses on the legal challenges and opportunities of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence, with specific focus on governance and trust. She was a founding member of the Global Future Council on Blockchain Technologies at the World Economic Forum, and co-founder of the Internet Governance Forum’s dynamic coalitions on Blockchain Technology (COALA).

Primavera is the author of the book “Blockchain and the Law,” published in 2018 by Harvard University Press (co-authored with Aaron Wright) and she was recently awarded a € 2M research grant from the European Research Council (ERC) to investigate how blockchain technology can help improve institutional governance through greater confidence and trust, and how it can contribute to global governance.

In addition to her academic research, Primavera acts as a legal expert for Creative Commons and is part of the stakeholder board of the P2P Foundation. As an artist, she produces mechanical algorithms that instantiate her legal research into the physical world, such as the Plantoid project (http://plantoid.org).


Community

Business of Fashion

Why Hermès Probably Can’t Stop the MetaBirkin

Primavera De Filippi explains the implications of an NTF collection featuring fuzzy versions of Hermès bags.

Feb 1, 2022
Harvard Gazette

Taking the crypto out of digital currency

A Q&A with Primavera De Filippi

Jun 2, 2021
Internet Policy Review

Decentralized Autonomous Organization

Samer Hassan and Primavera De Filippi attempt to clarify "What is a Decentralized Autonomous Organization"

Apr 20, 2021

An Introduction to Extitutional Theory

Jessy Kate Schingler and Primavera de Filippi write a primer on “Extitutional Theory” for the BKC Medium Collection.

Jan 20, 2021
WIRED

The Ties That Bind Facebook's Libra

Facebook says its cryptocurrency will be managed by an independent group, but an analysis finds more than half of the members have links back to the social media giant.

Oct 7, 2019
Intelligence Squared

Blockchain: Quantum leap forward or digital snake oil?

Faculty Associate Primavera De Filippi joins a debate discussing Blockchain, what it is, and whether it is deserving of its current hype.

Jul 2, 2018

Events

Oct 12, 2018 @ 9:00 AM

Special Event: Big Data, Meager Returns?

A collaborative workshop on Fairness, Sustainability and Data for the Global South

A workshop on automation's promise and challenge for a different future, and the better governance models needed to include the understanding of data as a public asset.

Event
Apr 23, 2018 @ 4:00 PM

Blockchain and the Law

The Rule of Code

Blockchain technology is ultimately a dual-edge technology that can be used to either support or supplant the law. This talk looks at the impact of blockchain technology of a…

Event
Apr 15, 2014 @ 12:30 PM

Ethereum: Freenet or Skynet ?

Primavera De Filippi, Berkman Center Fellow

Ethereum: smart contracts, distributed autonomous organizations, and the law. Can the dreams of an autonomous decentralized society be implemented through the tyranny of code?

Oct 24, 2013 @ 6:00 PM

Cyberscholars Working Group

Presenters will include: Samuel M. Kleiner, Yale Law Schol, Information Society Project