Cryptocurrencies and the blockchain

Abstract

In September 2018 the authors released a report funded by the Law Foundation entitled “Regulation of Cryptocurrencies in New Zealand”. This article includes the report’s recommendations as well as background on the implications of cryptocurrencies and blockchain to society and the law. Cryptocurrencies, in particular bitcoin, have captured the public’s attention. It is hard to find a person who has not heard about bitcoin, albeit blockchain, the technology that the creators of bitcoin devised, is still a mystery to most. Blockchain, however, is just one form of distributed ledger technology (DLT). For the sake of simplicity, the term blockchain is used in this article.