Evidentiary Aspects of the Blockchain: Analysis of the Legal Reality in Europe and Spain

Abstract

This research analyzes the impact of blockchain technology in the field of electronic evidence. It starts from a hypothesis of assuming that blockchain technology will have a significant impact on both public administrations and society in general, which will mean changing the way personal electronic information is managed by putting control in the hands of individual citizens rather than centralized servers or platforms. The article also analyzes regulatory efforts in the European Union to adapt to the changing landscape of electronic evidence, including the proposed eIDAS 2 regulation, which seeks to establish autonomous digital identities based on blockchain technology and then focuses on the procedural treatment of blockchain as a means and source of evidence and differentiates between this technology as a means of storing electronic evidence and as a mechanism to preserve and secure this type of evidence. Likewise, the text concludes by emphasizing the potential of blockchain technology in the context of Web3, where decentralized and interoperable systems are expected to play a fundamental role in the Spanish and European administration of justice.