Distributed ledger technology and economic contract innovation

Abstract

Similar1 to the economic system of the resource allocation of market and enterprise, distributed ledger technology may support an institutional form between decentralization and centralization, especially the smart contract that runs on it. The smart contract supports a more flexible, de-intermediary economic contractual relationship potentially. So distributed ledger technology can also be considered as an institutional technology [1]. According to the economic method, regarding the transaction cost as the basic unit, based on the technical and business characteristics of the distributed ledger, we analyzed economic contract innovation scenarios of distributed ledgers, and found important institutional features, including de-intermediation, intelligence and miniaturization. In addition, we made a preliminary empirical analysis through decentralized exchanges.