Association membership

As a German registered non-profit association (German: “eingetragene, gemeinnutzliche Verein”), BerChain e.V. is democratically led by its members through the General Assembly in which all members have a vote.

Our “constitution” are the Articles of Association which define how the association is governed. According to these Articles, the day to day matters of the association are overseen, and the association is legally represented by the Board, consisting of the President, Vice-President and a Secretary-General.

Mission & purpose of BerChain e.V.

The mission of BerChain can be defined as connecting and promoting the Berlin Blockchain Ecosystem, amongst itself and with other stakeholders.

Read more about our mission.

Why becoming a member?

As a full association member of BerChain e.V., you no longer stand on the side-line, but are actively contributing to a better, more connected and more collaborative ecosystem that is well known throughout the world.

Membership types

BerChain has two types of memberships; personal memberships and organisational memberships. Organisational members form the heart of the association and contribute financially according to capabilities (measured in revenue and FTEs). The smallest organisations, “Start-Ups”, enjoy a specifically affordable membership fee. Every member has one vote in the General Assembly but organisational members can assign multiple representatives.

Personal membership applications are only accepted in exceptional circumstances.

Who can become a member?

According to our Articles of Association, “Any legal or natural person who supports the aims of the Association and is willing and capable of contributing towards the purpose of the Association may apply to become a member of the Association”, the application has to be made in writing, and the Board will subsequently decide on the admission of the prospective member.

In practice there are some further criteria which are currently evaluated by the Board before members are admitted, and may be signed into by-laws in the future. The currently adopted criteria are:

  • The prospective organisational members is legally headquartered in Berlin OR
  • The prospective organisational members is not based in Berlin, but has a substantial investment or permanent presence of at least 2 FTE in Berlin.
    AND
  • The prospective organisational member has a positive impact on the membership and the Berlin blockchain ecosystem as a whole.

Membership application process

If your organisation is in principle admissible as a member, we encourage you to fill out the membership form. This will help us guide you through the process and in the process we will send you our Articles of Association, our Fee Schedule and the Member Registration Form.

Once we receive the completed and signed documentation (membership form and the excerpt of the commercial registry), our Board will make a decision about your application in the next board meeting. This can take between 2-6 weeks. You will hear back from us as soon as a decision has been made.

So, step by step:

  1. Determine if you are admissible as a member. Contact us on hello@berchain.com if you need any help or have further questions.
  2. Fill out the online membership form.
  3. We will send you our Articles of Association, Fee Schedule and Registration Form by email for your consideration.
  4. Send us a signed (and scanned) copy of the Registration Form, and a recent excerpt from the commercial registry so we can verify your registration and authorised representatives.
  5. Once everything has been received, our Board will make a decision in 2-6 weeks.
  6. Once admitted as member, we will add you to the member-only Slack channels, invite you for member-only events and add you to our website and promotional material. We will need your logo (vector format) and company description for this.

Apply to become a member of BerChain e.V.