Headshot of Charles Belle

Charles Belle

Filecoin Foundation for Decentralized Web Teaching Fellow, Center for Law, Tech, and Social Good

Full-Time Faculty
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Biography

Charles Belle is the Filecoin Foundation for Decentralized Web’s Teaching Fellow at the Center for Law, Tech, and Social Good at the University of San Francisco School of Law.** Professor Belle’s research focuses on decentralized governance and oracles, and he is teaching a course on DeFi (DeFi: Decentralized Finance Law). Additionally, Professor Belle serves as an adjunct professor at USF School of Law, teaching Business Associations.

Prior to joining the Center, Professor Belle has worked in blockchain in several capacities, most notably he was the COO of a layer-1 blockchain company, where he directed strategy and operations and led the design of the governance protocol. Previously, Professor Belle led a nonprofit focused on the tech-government intersection, where his applied research emphasized open data, open source, and privacy. He also served as Executive Director of the Center for Innovation at UC Law San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings).

Professor Belle is a non-residential Fellow at Stanford University's Center for Internet and Society (CIS). His past fellowships include UC Berkeley's Center for Technology, Society & Policy. For nine years, he was a member of the Committee on Information Technology (COIT), the governance body that makes decisions regarding the future of San Francisco's technology.

He served as a law clerk extern for Judge Carlos Bea of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He was also the founder and Editor-in-Chief of the UC Law Science and Technology Journal (formerly Hastings Science & Technology Law Journal).

Expertise

  • Blockchain/Web 3 law and regulation

Research Areas

  • Emerging technology
  • Intellectual property
  • Law and regulation

Education

  • JD, UC Law San Francisco (formerly UC Hastings)
  • MA, University of Chicago (International Relations)
  • BA, University of Chicago (double major: Economics, Political Science)

Awards & Distinctions

  • Non-Residential Fellow, Stanford Center for Internet and Society
  • Fellow, UC Berkeley, Center for Technology, Society, and Policy (2015-2016)

Selected Publications