Emilie Allaert no longer runs the Luxembourg Blockchain Lab, which has been mothballed by the non-profit organisation Infrachain due to a lack of public funding. Photo: Eva Krins (rchives)

Emilie Allaert no longer runs the Luxembourg Blockchain Lab, which has been mothballed by the non-profit organisation Infrachain due to a lack of public funding. Photo: Eva Krins (rchives)

The government has withdrawn its financial support for the Luxembourg Blockchain Lab, which it was still praising for its commitment last December. The non-profit organisation Infrachain, which set up the lab as part of Digital Luxembourg, has laid off the three people who ran it, including its director since 2022, Émilie Allaert, citing "economic reasons".

"I'm currently out of the office, forging the next chapter of my career on a brand new blockchain. Think of it as an upgrade to a smarter, faster, more innovative version of myself - while remaining decentralised and connected! If you have any questions about the Luxembourg Blockchain Lab and how it is evolving following recent governance decisions, please contact Fabrice Croiseaux or Laurent Kratz." 's automatic response is impeccable.

Like her two colleagues, Allaert, who was appointed Luxembourg's ambassador to the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC) for 2025 at the beginning of January, has been made redundant from the lab for economic reasons. "For the time being, we have scaled back considerably, as Infrachain no longer has the financial backing of the public sector,” Fabrice Croiseaux, CEO of Intech, stated in a text message to Paperjam.

Last December, his closing speech at the fifth edition of Luxembourg Blockchain Week was already revealing: "Over the past three days, we have heard just how interested the players in the ecosystem are in blockchain technologies and how committed the institutions are to supporting these projects. But as we all know, words are not enough. It's time to turn those intentions into action. And in this field, action means investment” he said, commenting that artificial intelligence is capturing a large proportion of resources and attention, while LBL has demonstrated "its ability to attract projects and players from the American and Asian markets. But the real challenge lies elsewhere: transforming our own financial industry and mobilising European players to take the lead in this field."

Referring to the Lab's achievements - from setting up the public sector blockchain to European projects and training professionals – Croiseaux noted the progress made. "But let's be realistic: we remain an ASBL [not-for-profit organisation] dependent on the support of our members and public funding. And getting that support is becoming increasingly complicated, in a context where AI is capturing the lion's share of budgets. Without sufficient financial resources, Infrachain and the Luxembourg Blockchain Lab will not be able to maintain their activities at their current level. Our future is uncertain", he concluded.

Who was he targeting? Until 1 August, the Media, Connectivity and Digital Policy Department (SMC) was active in the not-for-profit association Infrachain, a grouping of public and private partners that set up the Luxembourg Blockchain Lab in the government context of Digital Luxembourg.

This service, which is dependent on the Ministry of State, has withdrawn from the association. "No recurrent government funding was foreseen when Infrachain was set up, and none has ever been forthcoming," SMC told Paperjam. "When the project was launched, all the parties involved agreed that an SMC employee would be made available on an ad hoc basis to provide a kick-start and create a strong momentum around blockchain and its development. Their role was key in laying the foundations. As planned from the outset, this provision was not intended to continue once the activities had been launched and the not-for-profit organisation had established its position in the market".

This kickstarter, Tom Kettels, directed Infrachain from its inception until the end of 2023 and co-directed the lab until that same date, since when he has refocused on... artificial intelligence at the SMC.

Today, two other government bodies remain associated with the not-for-profit, the Ministry of Finance since 18 December and the Ministry of Digitalisation. Both those ministers attended the organisation’s Blockchain Week in December. It was “A pivotal event that underlines Luxembourg's role as a leader in innovation, technology and financial services,” said the minister for digitalisation, (DP), who also emphasised that blockchain is "becoming the foundation of the fintech revolution, an area in which Luxembourg claims to be a world leader".

Blockchain Week was “an event that highlighted the transformative power of blockchain and Luxembourg's leadership opportunities", said finance minister (CSV), who praised the "dedication and efforts" of the participants in shaping the future of finance and technology, again capable of "making Europe more competitive".

The current government coalition agreement stated: "Luxembourg was the first country in the world to integrate blockchain technology into its public service. This advance has made state processes more reliable, transparent and secure. In addition, the legal security of blockchain technology in the financial sector has been strengthened. In the coming years, the government will continue to promote research, development and training in this field, with the aim of establishing Luxembourg as a leading blockchain platform in Europe."

At the time of writing, the Ministry of Finance had not yet responded to our requests for comment. However, according to our information, at the beginning of the year, the minister entrusted the Luxembourg House of Financial Technology (Lhoft) with the role of continuing the work around blockchain for the future of financial services. This might seem logical, given that Lhoft already brings together several finance-oriented blockchain players. However, it is important to note that blockchain can be applied to almost any industry.

As for the future of Infrachain without 'its' lab, it remains difficult to predict. According to the latest documents filed with the commercial register, in addition to the two ministries concerned, companies such as Scorechain, Proximus Luxembourg, KYC3, InTech and the Italian company Net Service SPA sat on the board of directors. In 2023, some twenty companies, research centres, Big Four firms and law firms were among its members. Among them: Abacus Consulting and Solutions, Allen & Overy, Spuerkeess, Compellio, CTIE, EBRC, Elvinger Hoss Prussen, Opportunity Financial Services, Lhoft, SnT, Itrust Consulting, KPMG, KYC3, LetzToken, List, Niu Group, Nomadic Labs, Talao and The Blockhouse Technology.

Last November, however, the Minister of Finance presented an initiative that was seen as a step forward for Luxembourg: a new 'control agent' status for securities issues. This role centralises the management of the blockchains linked to these securities, confers responsibility for them and places these activities under the supervision of the Luxembourg financial regulator CSSF. At the time of the announcement, Roth mentioned the presence of 40 entities active in blockchain in Luxembourg, out of the 280 organisations that aspire to transform the financial centre in the long term.

Read the original French-language version of this news report /