The article analyzes the positive and negative aspects of the use of smart contracts in various business areas, which respectively give it an advantage or disadvantage compared to traditional civil law contracts. It has been determined that due to the automatic execution of the transaction, as soon as the agreed conditions are fulfilled, smart contracts allow eliminating or minimizing a number of transaction costs that accompany traditional contracts. When using a smart contract, the possibility of improper execution by one of the parties is practically eliminated, since it cannot be violated. It is the difficulty of modifying or terminating smart contracts that is an advantage over other contractual structures. The complexity of changing and terminating smart contracts is a guarantee of their stability and the immutability of the contractual terms that were originally agreed by the parties. But at the same time, smart contracts, eliminating some of the problems of traditional contracts, create new ones when using them. The article also notes that smart contracts are distinguished by both vulnerability in computer code and insufficiently effective legal regulation. The problem of oracles when using smart contracts is considered, which consists in the need to trust the information received from them. It is concluded that due to the vulnerability of a smart contract, like any modern digital technology, the existence of a written original of the contract, subsequently expressed in a smart contract, will make it much easier for the parties to use both judicial and extrajudicial methods to protect their rights. It has been noted that due to the growing use of smart contracts in civil circulation, the number of disputes arising in connection with this, considered both in state courts and in non-state bodies (arbitration courts), will also increase.
Lately, more and more attention has been paid to the phenomenon of smart-contracts (SC) in legal research. The SCs have already found their application in many aspects of society life and are particularly common in the regulation of legal relations in the area of automated financial services, which may include lending, mortgages, insurance, etc., as well as in public services, including various types of voting, elections, document management, supply and storage. The practical dissemination of SCs is carried out without a conceptual approach in the legal regulation of this object, but also without a unified terminology. The science begins developing approaches to study of the legal nature of SCs and offers options for their legal regulation have been proposed, each of those, of course, has its benefits and disadvantages, which is explained by the multifaceted nature of this phenomenon. First of all, it means a qualitatively new level of functioning of a smart-contract where the technical component overlays on traditional types of legal relations. Both authors of the article used scientific methods such as analysis, synthesis, comparison, induction and deduction. Special attention is paid to different options for understanding the legal nature of smart contracts, proposed by European and domestic scientists.
Non Fungible Tokens (NFT) is a digital title deed system that determines the ownership structure of digital assets and registers products that are not substituted for each other through Blockchain technology. These digital assets range from the digitized version of products created in the real world to products produced directly in the digital environment. While a product can be copied and produced many times in the virtual environment, an asset produced in the virtual world with NFT technology has become provable with Blockchain technology. Thanks to the cryptographic feature of blockchain technology, the products transferred to the digital environment or produced in the digital environment turn into a unique, unique and impossible to change structure. Although Non Fungible Tokens first became popular in the fields of art and games, the ownership structure of the content produced in new media environments has become provable and salable with the unlimited possibilities it offers. In this direction, Tweet, Audio File, Video, Photo, etc. By converting digital products to NFT, the ownership structure can change and provide a new resource for manufacturers. In this descriptive study, it is aimed to analyze the NFT collection 'CUNFT- Zorunda mıyım?', which Cüneyt Özdemir introduced on the Youtube platform on February 10, 2022 and sold on the Opensea site, on the news/economy/NFT axis. In this direction, NFT products are a new source of income for journalists who are not involved in the traditional media due to the constructive / economic / political problems and continue their broadcasts in alternative media.
This paper answers three of the most frequently asked questions received in response to the paper crypt into crypto. We also received questions about stable coins, alt coins and Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs), which we’ll cover in a future paper.
Introduction: the article is devoted to the analysis of legal regulation of smart contracts, the concept, content, and scope of their application. The author analyzes in detail foreign expe- rience of using smart contracts and suggests possible options for expanding the application area. The article also has a separate section that looks at smart contracts as compared with traditional institutions of civil law. Smart contracts are expected to find application in almost all areas of life in the future. As is often the case with new technologies, the use of smart con- tracts raises a number of civil law issues. Blockchain technology makes it possible not only to create new means of payment but also to autonomously manage almost any process. It can be used for individual contracts and even for the creation of autonomous decentralized systems. Purpose: to provide an insight into the institution of smart contracts and define their role in civ- il law. Methods: empirical methods of comparison, description, interpretation; theoretical me- thods of formal and dialectical logic; special scientific methods such as the legal-dogmatic me- thod, the methods of interpretation of legal norms and comparative legal research. Results: smart contracts are computer programs that perform legally significant actions according to predetermined algorithms set out in the form of a so-called program code. In practice, they are especially important in connection with the development of blockchain technology or (more generally) distributed ledger technology. Conclusions: the term ‘smart contract’ was defined by Nick Szabo in the 1990s as a sequence of commands represented in digital form, including transaction protocols that execute these agreements. Thus, smart contracts formulate rules and sanctions for agreements and execute them automatically. These are not necessarily contracts in the legal sense, but they are capable of controlling, tracking, and documenting legally signif- icant actions. Smart contracts can also be implemented using traditional, for example, mechan- ical technologies (e.g. in a vending machine). However, blockchain and distributed ledger tech- nologies make it possible to implement incomparably more complex rules and enforcement me- chanisms and offer a decentralized environment with an integrated settlement system. From a legal point of view, smart contracts perform two functions. On the one hand, they serve as a functional equivalent of a contract since their technological code can identify the services to be exchanged as well as the conditions under which they must be provided. Being the normative order of the digital, this code formulates the program of obligations of the parties. It resembles the legal order of a contract, without necessarily coinciding with it. On the other hand, smart contracts serve as a tool for the execution of contracts – by controlling, monitoring, and docu- menting the exchange of services. They can also facilitate the execution of conventional con- tracts by translating their provisions into a technical code, verifying the occurrence of agreed- upon events, and enforcing contracts. Smart contracts are suitable for contractual relation- ships, for example, for processing payments or delivering goods without the participation of the parties and an intermediate step in the form of direct execution. Smart contracts are gaining more and more popularity, especially in the financial sector. In addition to the so-called token economy (cryptocurrencies, ICO, etc.), there are also discussed algorithmic ETFs, online plat- forms for loans or project financing. Another important area of application is sharing economy. From a legal point of view, smart contracts can either be the subject of a contractual agreement or generate it on their own. There is sometimes put forward a thesis under the motto ‘Code is law’ that smart contracts give rise to a largely autonomous legal system and/ or are not subject to applicable law. However, this appears to be an erroneous conclusion
The article is devoted to a topic of great scientific and practical importance in the modern context of creating a digital economy ecosystemб to the smart contract phenomenon. The article focuses on the foreign civilistic doctrine of the smart contract study. The main discussion questions about the legal and technological nature of the smart contract, the ways of its implementation in the current contract law of each country, the approaches of national legislators to solving this issue and the functional nature of the smart contract are considered. The main disputable problems are the legal and technological nature of the smart contract, the ways of its implementation in the current contract law of each country, the approaches of national legislators to solving this problem and about the functional nature of the smart contract. The article also involves a comparative legal aspect: it analyzes the approaches of the Russian legislator and representatives of the domestic legal doctrine to the smart contract place in the pandect system of Russian civil law in comparison with the foreign legal systems settlement of similar issues. It is noted that using the positive experience of the smart contracts legal regulation should be taken into account when creating and correcting the regulatory platform of the digital economy in the Russian Federation. The article evaluates the legal innovation of Part 2 of Article 309 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (RF CC). The description is given of the innovation developers positions given in the Explanatory Note to the relevant draft law; the investigation is performed on the technological terms used in the current version of the RF CC with regard to the electronic form of a deal and smart contract. In addition, the article raises the problem that is well known to the foreign legal doctrine: the problem of the computer code credibility and the distrust of the counterparties of each other. Attention is paid to the advantages of the smart contract, which are discussed by foreign legal scientists, as well as representatives of other related sciences. In the conclusion of the article, the main findings are given that demonstrate the authors’ view on the issues considered in the article.
The post-COVID-19 era is an age of disruption, which presents significant social, cultural and technological challenges and opportunities for society at large. There has been substantial wealth generation fuelled from digital currencies, which has led to interest and sales of Non-Fungible Tokens ('NFTs') and their associated assets. This article will examine the growth and hype about artistic NFTs in the context of recent years. It will then examine the application of current Australian copyright laws to such NFTs and their assets to determine subsistence and infringement of these works. The notion of what it means to 'own' an NFT will be examined. When applying traditional proprietary notions of ownership to NFTs, it will be seen that they have the capacity to challenge established norms which have evolved in a material, pre-technological world. Finally, this article will ponder the question as to whether a new type of virtual ownership right is emerging for NFTs and their associated assets.
The article discusses the features of non-interchangeable tokens from the point of view of law. The author reveals and systematizes the rights to NFT, offers solutions to existing problems. In addition, the article proposes the concept of hybrid rights, invented by the author.
<ns2:p>In modern Russia, thanks to the development of digital technologies, the usual image of economic relations is radically changing. The list of possibilities of their application in the modern world is rapidly expanding. The construction of a digital economy system as the most optimal environment for the application of these technologies is the logical outcome of digital transformation. Against this background, virtual economic relations, electronic payment services, virtual crypto exchanges, crowdfunding are actively developing, which contributes to the development of electronic money and digital currencies. These processes have increased the number of criminal manifestations, crime has been modernized, new types of crime have appeared, as well as new objects, methods and means of committing crimes. The results of the author’s comprehensive crime study indicate an increase in crimes committed using digital currency (cryptocurrency) [1, p. 89; 2, p. 287]. In this connection, consideration of the problems of its conceptual apparatus, legal regulation, study of the issues of legalization of this digital asset, criminal activities with its use may be now necessary to ensure criminological security, since national authorities do not control digital currency (cryptocurrency); it can compete with national fiat currencies and lead to their weakening. At the same time, the development of the digital currency (cryptocurrency) market and the growth of transactions is increasing daily. Sometimes they are used for criminal purposes. However, the insufficiency of its regulation is not conducive to the prevention of crimes in which it is the means of commission and the object of criminal activity. The purpose of the article is to develop scientifically sound proposals for improving criminal legislation and preventing crimes committed both in relation to digital currency (cryptocurrency) and with their use. Methods. In the course of the study, general scientific methods of cognition are used, as well as special scientific methods (system-structural, formal-logical extrapolations, prognostic, documentary analysis, statistical, interviewing, etc.). The results of the study show a high level of acts committed both in relation to the digital currency and with its use. Such crimes are characterized by a high degree of public danger, determined by the damage caused to the individual, society and the state, as well as the commission of acts by representatives of transnational organized crime, characteristics of the object and means of committing such crimes, social consequences, and a high level of latency. The relevance and expediency of criminalization of these crimes is proved, as evidenced by crime statistics, materials of judicial practice, the nature and degree of their public danger, and the possibility of influencing them by legal means. Proposals have been prepared and presented to improve criminal legislation in the field of preventing crimes committed using digital currency (cryptocurrency).</ns2:p>
The article discusses about the smart contract, its concept and legal nature, as well as the place of smart contracts in the Technology Law, which means a discussion on the important issues covered by this topic. At the same time, smart contracts are com- pared to the usual standard contract, where their pros and cons are discussed. The importance and necessity of both types of contracts in relation to the current reality will also be discussed. At the same time, the article discusses about the revolutions – from where they begin and how long the world has passed before today's reality, why blockchain is considered as the fourth-generation revolution and how important it is to develop and implement it. The article also discusses about the types of contracts, which means how a standard contract can be divided, in the other words, we talk about consensual and real contracts. The definitions of each of them and their need related to the smart contracts are analyzed in the article. Therefore, we use the relevant chapters and articles of civil law to be able to explain what is meant and to what extent it is possible to follow the same norms in the case of the smart contract.
Digitalisation creates a new environment in which the development of advanced technology is becoming a reality. In that sense, a system of recording information that makes it difficult or impossible to change, hack or cheat is commonly known under blockchain technology. Recently, there has been much hype around blockchain technology since it became helpful for creating digital money, widely called cryptocurrencies.This article stresses the importance of blockchain technology concerning cryptocurrencies, including its impact on Bosnia and Herzegovina. Finally, this article aims to offer potential solutions that might help regulate the cryptocurrencies concerning entity level in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Digital technologies have been integrated into all aspects of public life, including politics, law, finance, business, education, science, and society. As a result of the use of digital technologies by various subjects, a transformation has occurred of the economic relations existing in society, including corporate relations. This study analyzes the impact of digitalization on individual institutions of corporate law. The authors investigate the following aspects of the digitalization of corporate law: (1) digital legal personality of the corporation (online registration (e-residency) of corporations and the digital footprint that companies leave in public registers); (2) digital corporate governance; and (3) digital (network or decentralized) autonomous organizations. The purpose of this research is to identify trends and directions of transformation of individual institutions of corporate law in a digital society. The authors conclude that the digitalization of institutions of corporate law will result in: (1) the reinterpretation of certain concepts of corporate law, such as corporation and corporate governance; (2) the improvement of the legal mechanisms of corporate governance following the introduction of AI into the collegial executive bodies of corporations; (3) the digitalization of corporate assets; and (4) the emergence of new subjects of corporate and other relevant relations.
The article is devoted to the study of the experience of legal regulation of the legal status of cryptocurrencies and transactions with them in Asian countries (except for the People's Republic of China and Asian countries - members of the Commonwealth of Independent States, as the author examined them in separate publications). In the article the author, based on the study of regulations, administrative and judicial practice of all major countries in this part of the world, emphasizes the divergent trends in cryptocurrency transactions regulation in the region, when some countries move from a liberal approach to the use of cryptocurrencies to their total ban and vice versa. It is noted that almost all countries in the region give a legal assessment of the payment function of cryptocurrencies, using regulatory or prohibitive approaches, depending on the chosen policy, which indirectly confirms their understanding of the legal nature of cryptocurrencies primarily as a means of payment. At the same time, these countries not only categorically distinguish cryptocurrencies from fiat money issued by central banks, but also mostly avoid the official definition of cryptocurrency as private (decentralized) cash, preferring to qualify them as an intangible asset, virtual asset, digital asset, financial value and even a good or service, which is currently a kind of compromise between political expediency and economic realities. The author also notes that the Asian region is characterized by very active attempts to resolve the legal status of cryptocurrencies at the legislative level, and not just administrative or judicial response to the actual legal relationship, although the progress of different countries in this matter is different.
 As a result, the author concludes that in the Asian countries considered in the article, there is no same view on the legal nature of cryptocurrency, its qualification as an object of civil rights, and ways to regulate transactions with it (libertarian approach, positive-cryptocurrency approach but with detailed government regulation and control or a completely restrictive policy in relation to the cryptocurrency market).
The research is carried out on some legal issues of smart contracts and their place in Russian and other countries’ contract law. By means of contract law such issues are analysed: 1) conclusion and performance of smart contracts’ obligations; 2) practical issues arising due to smart contracts’ use; 3) contract law provisions that might be applied to smart contracts; 4) issues that are not covered by the legislation but need to be addressed. A smart contract is considered to be a contract with the specific type of performance of obligations (automated performance). Smart contract is a contract concluded with an exchange of data (type of a written form). Smart contracts are performed with the help of automated performance and previously expressed consent of parties. It is proved that smart contracts could be modified and terminated giving a mechanism for that as well as provides for measures of defence and responsibility that could be applied for obligations out of smart contracts. As the result, provisions of smart contracts that reflect smart contracts’ place and peculiarities in contract law are formulated
The article is devoted to the study of the current state and prospects of further legislative regulation of the legal status of cryptocurrency in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States. According to the analysis of the current legal framework in these countries, the author notes that the regulation of legal status and cryptocurrency transactions in the CIS countries is heterogeneous - from the level of adjustment of existing codifications of civil law and the adoption of special legislation on legal regulation of innovative financial instruments to only by-laws or in the absence of special legislation at all, including a deliberate (but for various reasons) refusal to normalize this legal phenomenon. In the latter case, countries apply to cryptocurrency transactions the current tools of civil, tax, administrative and criminal law (depending on public policy in this area), which does not fully correspond to the novelty of this legal phenomenon, and thus leads to legal uncertainty and legal conflicts of private persons with the state. The author states that the countries of the union use different practices to regulate this legal phenomenon: from completely restrictive, to partially restrictive (with the possibility of mining and operations outside national jurisdic-tion) or completely liberal. There are no common approaches of the CIS countries to understanding the legal status of cryptocurrencies as an object of civil rights - depending on the country, they are classified as digital (virtual) assets, other property, property rights. The author emphasizes that almost all the states of the union deny the possi-bility of using cryptocurrencies as means of payment and units of account (except for the payment for the services of cryptocurrency exchanges in the countries where they exist). As a result, the author concludes that attempts to unify the legal regulation of the status and circulation of cryptocurrencies in the CIS countries are currently unsuccessful, which, according to the author, is explained by different levels of democratization of domestic political life and eco-nomic structure of CIS countries as well as by their acceptance of different legal traditions (Western and Chinese).
The emergence of digital technologies contributed to the emergence and rapid development of digital commerce, and at the same time, the number of electronic payments, the use of digital and virtual currencies increased. The article presents an analysis of the legal nature of such a financial instrument as cryptocurrency, characterizes the distinctive features, highlights the advantages and disadvantages. The purpose of the work is to consider the regulatory legal position of cryptocurrency in the modern world, to highlight the legal practice in cases of the circulation of cryptocurrency, to study the role of cryptocurrency in transnational offenses, to explore possible options for combating cybercrime, which is carried out using the use of cryptocurrency. The methodology of the work is represented by a set of methods and techniques, operations that are used to study the topic and achieve the set goal, namely: hermeneutic, historical, extrapolation, comparative-legal, comparison and generalization, analysis, synthesis, deduction. Results of the work: in today's reality there is no unified international legal regulation of cryptocurrency, which complicates the prevention and fight against transnational offenses, the means or subject of which are cryptocurrencies and mining.