PART IV - DISPUTE RESOLUTION RULES

PART IV - DISPUTE RESOLUTION RULES

1. Arbitration

   1. Any dispute, controversy, or claim arising out of, or in relation to, the Rules, including regarding the existence, validity, invalidity, breach, or termination thereof, will be resolved by arbitration in accordance with the Swiss Rules of International Arbitration of the Swiss Arbitration Centre in force on the date on which the Notice of Arbitration is submitted in accordance with those rules (the ‘Swiss Rules’). In particular:

      1. (a) the number of arbitrators will be one or three;

      2. (b) when designating or appointing an arbitrator, the parties, the arbitrators, and the Arbitration Court of the Swiss Arbitration Centre, in view of securing the appointment of a qualified, independent and impartial arbitrator, are invited to consider the opportunity, as appropriate, of designating or appointing arbitrators of the P.R.I.M.E. Finance Panel of Experts and any of the specialised panels that P.R.I.M.E. Finance may form to deal with particular categories of blockchain or digital assets-related cases;

      3. (c) the seat of the arbitration will be Zug, Switzerland;

      4. (d) the arbitration proceedings will be conducted in English;

      5. (e) the law applicable to the arbitration agreement will be the law of England and Wales; and

      6. (f) the rules on expedited proceedings as set out in Article 42 of the Swiss Rules will apply where the amount in dispute does not exceed the amount specified for their application in the Swiss Rules or where the parties to the arbitration agree in writing that those rules do not apply.

   2. Binding nature

      1. The arbitration agreement in clause IV.1 is binding on each Node, irrespective of when that Node first undertakes or undertook a Relevant Activity.

   3. Changes

      1. This Part IV (Dispute Resolution Rules) (including the arbitration agreement in clause IV.1) is subject to change in accordance with clause II.5 of the Rules.

      2. Any changes to this Part IV (Dispute Resolution Rules) will not result in the arbitration agreement in clause IV.1 ceasing to have binding effect.