Blockchain Papers

Natascha Kupka

Der Beitrag befasst sich mit der Frage, ob und wie Smart Contracts in einer Blockchain mit der Regelung des § 103 InsO vereinbar sind und versucht, Auswege aus dem sich abzeichnenden Dilemma zu skizzieren.

В. С. Литвинова, Оксана Валеріївна Толстоусова

Розглядається процес безпечного укладання договорів соціального страхування від нещасних випадків на виробництві та професійних захворювань, який полягає у надійному укладанні і веденні договорів за допомогою технології смарт-контрактів.

Matthew Armitage

The International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) Master Agreement (MA) is the prevailing contract in the Over-the-Counter (OTC) derivatives market. Its efficacy derives from, inter alia, the network effect. As the OTC derivatives market expanded so did users of the MA. During and after the MA’s creation, the market underwent extensive deregulation and the standard-form agreement soon filled the lacuna left by retreating regulation. Its ubiquity in the market has created a level of trust and confidence, not only in the terms of the MA itself but between parties which may not have otherwise entered into a business relationship. With the impending introduction by ISDA of a smart contract version, this article investigates whether automation will harmonize or disrupt trust and confidence in the MA. ISDA, derivatives, standard-form, trust, confidence, smart legal contracts

Authors unavailable

No abstract is available for this record.

Inbang Song, Yang young sik

No abstract is available for this record.

Ainul Azam bin Ahmad Khamal

No abstract is available for this record.

Inesa Shumilo, Vladislava Serhiivna Ovcharenko, Karima Shodiivna Filipchenko

With the development of technology innovations it becomes possible to regulate relations between the parties through smart-contracts. Smart contracts are based on blockchain technology, which is a decentralized distributed ledger system consisting of a chain of computers connected to one server. This technology is so convenient for parties to the treaty, because it gives the participants of smart contract an opportunity to exchange property values without intermediaries such as notaries, guarantors, etc. It is to be noted that smart contracts are not resolved in most countries. Now in many countries, however, there is a formation of the legislative framework in the sphere of the smart contracts by considering a smart contract like an element of a legal transaction with the introduction of blockchain technology, which is explained by the desire to keep up with technical progress. There were some attempts in the International Private Law to conclude smart-contracts. As is well known the traditional question in the International Private Law is a conflict of law that is so popular now for smart contracts that using blockchain technology involve multiple jurisdictions. That’s why the choice-of-law issues in the regulation of relevant relations, including the projection concerning choice of law in those States where super-priority is adjusted for those innovations, requires further research. In this article the authors have analyzed the concept and essence of smart contracts (Smart Contracts), researched the problem of conflict of law, applicable to such contracts. In particular analysis focused specifically on the Rome I Regulation in the aspects of smart contract management. The paper also touches upon problematic aspects related to choice of law applicable to the smart contracts in Ukraine. In conclusion, the prospects for the use of smart contracts in International Private Law.

Amélie Favreau

No abstract is available for this record.

Miguel Ángel Moreno Navarrete

No abstract is available for this record.

Carla Reyes

Smart contracts and their promise of automatic performance capture legal and entrepreneurial imaginations. But the excitement around the technology led to some confusing legal responses. Several legal scholars use chronology to help reduce the confusion and place smart contracts within what is already familiar about computational contracting. According to this line of thinking, blockchain-based smart contracts simply represent the next technological advancement in a long history of computable contracting technologies. However, other scholarly work suggests that such a chronological explanation under-simplifies the nature of the linkages between smart contracts and other forms of code-connected contracts. This Article offers a unified theory of code-connected contracts as a tool for guiding risk allocation and design trade-off discussions when considering whether to use one or more forms of code-connected contracts. Specifically, this Article argues that the many variations of code-connected contracts should be viewed along an axis of state transition complexity. Doing so brings to the forefront the fact that the issues facing smart contracts used to merely automate performance of contractual obligations differ in terms of both magnitude and novelty from algorithmic decision-making tools used by parties to fill gaps in contractual terms and other computational contracting tools. In other words, the state transition complexity theory of code-connected contracts set out in this Article offers an analytical tool for anticipating legal and business risk when using computational contracts. Ultimately, the state transition complexity theory of code-connected contracts demonstrates that getting to the core legal issues presented by code-connected contracting requires an analysis of the details of each specific implementation. As with most legal questions, proper analysis depends on facts and circumstances. Nevertheless, many of the core legal issues will arise because emerging technology, like all technology, is social technology. Thus, the implications of the state transition complexity theory of code-connected contracts are that many of the legal issues are not terribly new, and we should not forget to look to existing jurisprudence and scholarly work in contract law and corollary disciplines.

Kevin Werbach, Nicolas Cornell

Smart contracts are self-executing digital transactions using decentralized cryptographic mechanisms for enforcement. They were theorized more than twenty years ago, but the recent development of Bitcoin and blockchain technologies has rekindled excitement about their potential among technologists and industry. Startup companies and major enterprises alike are now developing smart contract solutions for an array of markets, purporting to offer a digital bypass around traditional contract law. For legal scholars, smart contracts pose a significant question: Do smart contracts offer a superior solution to the problems that contract law addresses? In this article, we aim to understand both the potential and the limitations of smart contracts. We conclude that smart contracts offer novel possibilities, may significantly alter the commercial world, and will demand new legal responses. But smart contracts will not displace contract law. Understanding why not brings into focus the essential role of contract law as a remedial institution. In this way, smart contracts actually illuminate the role of contract law more than they obviate it.

Gerald R. Gray

No abstract is available for this record.

Susannah Wilkinson, Jacques Giuffre

No abstract is available for this record.

Yolanda Ríos López

No abstract is available for this record.

Catherine Martin Christopher

Explores the implications of transactional scripts used in situations where there is less than total trust between the parties. In particular, this Article asks the question of how parties to these next generation transactional scripts can seek redress and remedies in the event that the transactional script does not perform according to the parties' intent. Until parties feel safe that any errors can be corrected, large-scale implementation of transactional scripts will be hobbled. Part II of this Article articulates why the term "transactional scripts" is preferable to "smart contracts" and describes the utility and potential of transactional scripts. Part III identifies several factors that hinder greater expansion of the use of transactional scripts. It goes on to identify uncertainty of enforcement as the most important barrier to transactional script innovation, finding that parties will be reluctant to entrust bigger and more complex transactions to transactional scripts until the parties are comfortable that an external mechanism is capable of correcting errors in the execution of the transaction. This lack of reliable enforcement mechanisms is a problem exacerbated by the characteristic of distributed ledger technology, which is to move only forward, preventing revisions or reversals of preexisting entries. Part IV explores and critiques possible mechanisms that may be able to provide error correction, including statutory law, private law, online dispute resolution, public/private regulatory partnership, and common law. Part V concludes the Article, noting that the expansion of transactional scripts' utility will be tethered to the security provided by available error-correction mechanisms. Only as contracting parties become assured that the integrity of their transactional intent will be effectuated will transactional scripts be adopted for use.

Shubhani Aggarwal, Neeraj Kumar

No abstract is available for this record.

Benjamin Hayward, Lisa Spagnolo, Drossos Stamboulakis

No abstract is available for this record.

Andrea Stazi

No abstract is available for this record.

Adela Serra Rodríguez

espanolEl objeto de este trabajo es analizar las ventajas y riesgos que suponen la utilizacion de «smart contracts» para el trafico juridico, que ya han comenzado a utilizarse mediante tecnologia blockchain. De manera previa, nos detenemos en el concepto de «smart contracts», como codigo informatico que incorpora determinadas instrucciones y en sus principales caracteristicas (autoejecucion, rapidez, inmutabilidad), asi como su encaje en la concepcion tradicional del contrato en Derecho privado. Se abordan cuestiones como su perfeccion y el cumplimiento de los deberes de informacion y demas obligaciones impuestas por la normativa especifica para la proteccion de los consumidores y usuarios. Se finaliza poniendo de relieve las cuestiones que suscitan las distintas vicisitudes que pueden producirse durante la ejecucion del contrato y la posibilidad de aplicar a estos contratos inteligentes los remedios previstos en el Derecho de contratos. EnglishThe aim of this paper is to analyze the advantages and risks of the use of smart contracts, that have begun to be applied using blockchain technology. Firstly, we study the concept of smart contract, as a set of computer protocols that incorporates certain instructions and its main characteristics (self-execution, celerity, immutability). Issues such as its formation and compliance with information duties and other obligations imposed by the specific regulations for the protection of consumers are addressed. It ends by highlighting the issues that arise from the various vicissitudes that may occur during the execution of the contract, and the possibility of applying the remedies provided in Contract Law to these smart contracts.

Marcelo Corrales Compagnucci, Mark Fenwick, Stefan Wrbka

Smart contracts-self-executed, autonomous agreements in the form of computer code hosted on a blockchain-are, according to many observers, poised to disrupt the theory and practice of contracting. The perceived advantages of smart contracts are manifold. They can facilitate the performance and execution of agreements without the necessity of intermediaries and are said to provide better security, enforcement and verification systems than traditional contracts. Moreover, they seem to be immutable, irrevocable and cost-efficient. This makes smart contracts an attractive and convenient option for many different types of agreement, particularly in a business context. <br/><br/>A smart contract is a tamper-proof, digital agreement that runs on a decentralised blockchain. As such, smart contracts have two obvious advantages over traditional arrangements. First, smart contracts are shared records, meaning that the parties do not need to keep a personal copy. This is a significant advantage, especially for modern companies where departments operating as silos may have conflicting working procedures resulting in no single or reliable record of truth. <br/><br/>Second, smart contracts are reliable, and execution can be relied upon to a greater degree than in the past. In traditional agreements, the deal might not be implemented as initially agreed by the parties, either due to a choice or mistake. Smart contracts operate in the blockchain environment where they are executed exactly as written and do not require any approval at each step. If the predetermined conditions are fulfilled, then the agreement is performed automatically. <br/><br/>Today, many transactions include a third party to handle the counter party risk that another party defaults on their obligations. The parties may be reluctant to perform their obligations if there is no guarantee that the counter party will reciprocate. One way to think about the emergence of platforms, such as Uber or Airbnb, is that they provide structural mechanism to solve this problem of counter party risk. <br/><br/>Blockchain's decentralised infrastructure, however, generates and guarantees trust without the need for intermediaries. According to advocates of these technologies, blockchain replaces trusted third parties with an open and secure protocol that all parties can trust. And, crucially, neither party can control or change the contents of the blockchain ledger as it is decentralised. Central servers are replaced with a decentralised network of computers that record all transactions in the shared ledger. In this way, distributed computing ensures the ledger is always accurate, and the decentralised network keeps the ledger secure. <br/><br/>As such, smart contracts are a scripting language overlaid on the blockchain that enables transactions on a blockchain that mirror 'real life' contracts by defining if/then conditions. For example, if an asset hits a certain price on a specific date, then a payout should be made to the other party (or parties) to the contract. A smart contract developer could programme the contract conditions according to any specifications. The if/then parameters are then tied to inputs and outputs of the smart contract. To take a simple example, consider a smart contract in the case of a car loan. If the borrower misses a payment (tracked via a blockchain-like technology) then the contract/code would not allow the use and operation of the car, ie, the contract would be automatically 'enforced ' via network technologies that disable the vehicle, rather than through the use of a third party. Such contracts may produce efficiency, timing and performance improvements as a result of the automation of the contract's terms. This automation is achieved by computer code, which controls the automated performance in the context of an Internet of Things environment where digital devices are interconnected. <br/><br/>As this simple example shows, a smart contract utilises code to execute an agreement. In addition, the term 'smart contract ' is also often used to refer to traditional text-based contracts in which the ordinary language text references the use of such a 'code-only contract' to effect some (but not necessarily all) of the provisions. <br/><br/>While smart contracts can be applied in many different situations, they are still in an early phase of development-they are a relatively new and untested technology and the range of possible and effective use cases is still being worked out. At present, the actual tasks that smart contracts can perform are relatively basic and straightforward. However, as the adoption of blockchain-based platforms and applications accelerates, the expectation is that smart contracts will become increasingly sophisticated and capable of handling more complex and diverse transactions. <br/><br/>However, the deployment of smart contracts in the real world still needs further testing. The relative immaturity of the technology makes them potentially vulnerable to hacking. The lack of regulation is also a bottleneck for the development of more sophisticated forms of contract. This means that we need a more integrated or interdisciplinary approach to such contracts. There are still multiple concerns to be resolved relating to the technology, business models, appropriate markets, consumers and the law. Moreover, such contracts inevitably raise regulatory issues that need to be addressed by policymakers. Several countries have already started to develop new regulatory approaches, as legal commentators identify issues with such agreements. <br/><br/>Addressing the many challenges created by smart contracts requires going beyond a single disciplinary perspective or frame of reference. In particular, integration of technological, business and legal issues is crucial. This edited volume brings together a series of contributions by leading scholars and practitioners currently working in this space to examine the main issues that are driving the development of smart contracts, as well as the current response of key stakeholders in technology, business, government and the law. As such, the book explores the critical technical, business and legal challenges created by these potentially game-changing technologies and attempts to devise sound practical solutions in a broader scope regarding the functional and non-functional requirements of such contracts.

V. Yu. Priamitsyn, K. I. Kovalyk

У статті досліджено поняття смарт-контрактів. Проаналізовано його правову природу. Надано наукові&#13;\nпогляди, що склалися в юридичній науці стосовно поняття смарт-контрактів. У статті також розглянуто поняття «електронний договір» в українському законодавстві. Визначено відмінності між смарт-контрактом та електронним договором. А також досліджено їхні спільні риси. Здійснений аналіз поняття «технології блокчейну» як основи функціонування смарт-договорів. У статті також запропоновано визначення смарт-контракту на основі чинного законодавства. Виділяються особливості блокчейну, його переваги і водночас недоліки, які можуть виникати під час укладання&#13;\nсмарт-контрактів. Проаналізовано основну проблему цієї інноваційної технології, а саме обробка персональних даних&#13;\nкористувачів, які використовують смарт-контракти для договірних відносин. Здійснено аналіз українського законодавства щодо захисту персональних даних під час електронних операцій, визначено його прогалини, які формують думку про потребу нововведень для регулювання процесу використання блокчейну в Україні. Розглянуто практику Європейського Союзу щодо актуальності смарт-контрактів. Визначено основні принципи, на основі яких здійснюється обробка персональних даних у європейських країнах. Досліджено практику використання блокчейну в Україні. Детально проаналізовано законодавство стосовно захисту персональних даних, виділено статті, які суперечать існуванню та функціонуванню смарт-контрактів в Україні. У статті зроблено висновок щодо необхідності вдосконалення українського законодавства, пов’язаного із процесом створення смарт-контрактів та захистом персональних даних користувачів із метою їхньої безпеки і конфіденційності. Запропоновано ідеї для впровадження нових понять для правомірного використання інформаційних технологій на законодавчому рівні.

Ben Chester Cheong, Harry Kishen

No abstract is available for this record.

Matti Rudanko

No abstract is available for this record.

Agnieszka Kubiak-Cyrul, Dariusz Szostek

A number of tools used within LegalTech 2.0. and 3.0. apply blockchain and distributed ledger technologies 3 . This is not a new technology, the concept of distributed record keeping is over 50 years old (a memorandum no. RM-340-PR by Paul Baran 4 from 1964). What is innovative, is its application in a law firm and its adaptation to the needs of lawyers. Blockchain has been around for a number of years (paper by a 'Satoshi Nakamoto 5 ' from 2008) and has been identified by, among others, the European Union 1.