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Intermediary Liability

Definition

Intermediary liability concerns the legal responsibility of platforms or service providers for content or activities conducted by their users. In the context of digital assets and blockchain, this concept examines the extent to which cryptocurrency exchanges, decentralized application (dApp) developers, or protocol operators can be held accountable for illicit transactions, smart contract vulnerabilities, or user-generated content. Jurisdictions globally are grappling with applying existing legal frameworks to decentralized systems, where the role of an “intermediary” may be ambiguous or distributed. The principle influences how platforms design their services and implement compliance measures.