# kaal:claim:3606663-033

**Claim.** Accountability is a structural concern in DeFi: without a central entity it can become unclear who is responsible for wrongdoing, and when problems arise no central party can freeze transactions, fix problems, or restore normal operations.

**Type.** failure  **Support.** argued

**Holds when.**

- fully decentralized finance systems without a central operator

**Source quote.**

> "Without central entity involvement, who should be held accountable for potential wrongdoing can become unclear. Who do you resort to for help? When problems arise, no central party can take actions to freeze transactions, fix problems and restore normal operations.

**From.** Kaal, *Digital Asset Market Evolution* (2020), c) Growth Limitations, page 71

**Cite as.** Kaal, Digital Asset Market Evolution (2020). SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3606663

**Verify.** sha256 of source PDF `d1d4a15a293b715bb6a5a32e689f59c3a1587915039ba9a1cf4eeb8ee2a1e57c` at https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wulfkaal/Academic-Papers/main/papers/pdf/Kaal%20-%202020%20-%20Digital%20Asset%20Market%20Evolution.pdf

**Failure mode.** no accountable party and no recovery mechanism  (family: legal-personality-and-liability-gap)

**Topics.** defi, governance-design

**Keywords.** defi, accountability, governance, remedies, growth-limitations

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