Making Smart Contracts a Reality

Abstract

This chapter argues that promoting and facilitating the use of smart contracts will require us to confront some basic questions concerning definitions, enforceability, and regulation. First of all, is there agreement on what a ‘smart contract’ is? Secondly, assuming that there is a working definition of smart contracts, can traditional contract law adequately govern them? Finally, even if the traditional law can do so, would we require regulation to ensure that their proper use? Ultimately, for smart contracts to become a reality of legal practice, we will require a balanced legal environment that gives a sufficient level of certainty about legal rights under such contracts.