Resolución de conflictos en la Web3: el arbitraje como «tantum solutio»

Abstract

The increase in international trade relations and the opportunities offered by the digital world raise great concern about the number of resources and time invested in dispute resolution. The creation of new markets and digital disruption bring with them an unprecedented kind of disputes, which require agile and accessible mechanisms for their resolution. Web3 brings a new dimension to the business world: the Metaverse overflows all existing boundaries for companies, brands, and social relationships. However, new opportunities for social and economic interaction necessarily bring legal challenges: How to deal with the potential disputes brought about by the synergy between the real world and the digital sphere? What kind of disputes are we facing? What is the most efficient method for their resolution? Is arbitration flexible enough to consolidate itself as the main solution? Considering the challenges brought by Web3, disputes rising both within and as a result of the Metaverse require resolution methods that are up to their challenges. In the absence, at present, of a universal law applicable to digital relations and of a global meta-jurisdiction,arbitration is postulated as a mechanism that could play a central role. However, the arbitration legal community will have to rethink fundamental issues in the face of this paradigmshift.