The question of legitimacy is increasingly relevant for understanding blockchain governance, and the purpose of this group will be to better understand the practical and empirical conceptions of legitimacy within blockchain communities. The task force will convene for bi-monthly discussions, eventually resulting in a collectively written report synthesizing insights from the discussions.

This reading group explored ways in which blockchain technology could contribute to bringing more trust and confidence in existing social and institutional arrangement. Readings covered notions of trust and confidence, investigating the extent to which blockchain technology can either strengthen or weaken these concepts. The goal was, ultimately, to have a better understanding of how to design blockchain-based systems that promote trust and confidence

This working group studied and advanced the research on Extitutional Theory, a new field of scholarship that presents itself as a complement to Institutional Theory.