The article examines the features of criminal liability for transactions related to the circulation of cryptocurrencies. In order to determine the specifics of criminal violations in the field of cryptocurrency circulation, the legal nature of cryptocurrencies is studied. It is concluded that in order to properly qualify criminal offenses related to the circulation of cryptocurrencies, it is advisable to recognize cryptocurrencies as a type of property or money. The article analyzes the global approaches to the legal regulation of relations related to the circulation of cryptocurrencies. Based on the results of this analysis, it is concluded that relations regarding cryptocurrencies in most countries of the world are insufficiently regulated and are still outside of the legal field. This complicates, inter alia, the establishment of criminal liability for transactions involving the circulation of cryptocurrencies. A significant part of the article is devoted directly to the study of criminal liability for transactions involving the circulation of cryptocurrencies in different countries. The norms of the Criminal Codes, which establish liability for criminal violations in the field of cryptocurrency circulation, are analyzed. The measures that need to be implemented to ensure the control of government agencies over the circulation of cryptocurrencies and the security of all operations related to cryptocurrencies are identified.
Blockchain technology has recently entered the life of a modern person. This technology is quite young. It is developing very rapidly. More and more industries are adopting this technology. However, technical regulation procedures lag behind the development of the technology itself. There are a number of issues related to the security of personal data. This article examines the current vulnerabilities of modern blockchain systems. An attempt was made to systematize vulnerabilities depending on their nature of occurrence. The reasons for the emergence of such vulnerabilities are identified, primarily related to the lack of international standards for the development of such systems.
The study is dedicated to various jurisdictions’ approaches to cryptocurrency relations regulation. The digital assets'legal status in the European Union is analyzed both at the central level as well at the level of such EU members as Malta, Romania, Germany. Among the countries that geographically belong to Europe, but are not members of the European Union, Switzerland and the United Kingdom are considered in this aspect. The authors also reviewed the most important issues of cryptocurrency regulation in the largest economy in the world - the United States. The Asian region is represented in the study by the jurisdictions where digital assets are most widespread (China and Japan). The main conclusion is that the Republic of Moldova should develop the balanced approach to legalizing the new sphere of socio-economic relations by taking into consideration both positive and negative experience as well as the best legal practices of other states in this field.
Blockchain's usage is increasing, and the number of possible implications that have been explored and created is mind-boggling. This paper would look at some other potential blockchain implementations in the legal sector, especially in the sense of social regulation. The blockchain-based social regulator, which is neither created nor supported by any government or governmental institution, has the potential to transform the planet or its components into something known as a Decentralized Autonomous Organization (DAO). These assumptions are most likely too broad. The presented research focuses on a key and practical overview of regulations in a blockchain DAO that could be framed in the future and has the potential to affect current legal essentials. The study applies comparative method, using international public law and Lex Mercatoria as primary juxtaposition.
The article is devoted to the problems of improving the tax legislation of Russia at the stage of active implementation of blockchain technology, which is characterized by contradictory trends in the legal regulation of digital technologies. The relevance of the study of application of blockchain in tax relations is due to the need to assess the tax consequences of transactions using digital financial assets, as well as emergence of new directions for improving tax control based on blockchain technology. The purpose of the study is to analyze the provisions of Russian and foreign tax legislation, as well as doctrinal sources on improving legal regulation of tax relations in regard to blockchain technology. The study shows efficacy of the blockchain analysis for the purposes of tax and legal regulation carried out by developing concepts related to applying such technological solution as a tool in conducting cryptocurrency transactions. The theoretical significance of the study lies in the authors definition of the concept of blockchain technology for tax purposes, as well as in proving the value of legal regulation of tax relations applying blockchain. The practical implication is connected with voicing the need to develop legal regulation of applying blockchain technology when creating a system of transactional (automatic) taxation and levying the so-called smart taxes while fulfilling tax obligations in the context of introducing a goods traceability mechanism. This will also contribute to minimizing tax reporting. The research methodology are general and private scientific methods of knowledge: formal-legal, analysis, comparative-legal, and forecasting and modeling. The last two are often applied in tax law in light of digitalization and globalization.
The subject of the research is legal norms aimed at regulating by law relations in the field of concluding and executing smart contracts, including issues of protecting the rights of the parties to such contracts, including consumers. The object of the research is social relations arising in the process of creating, concluding and executing of smart contracts. Particular attention is paid to the theoretical and practical aspects of the definition of the concept of “smart contract” and its essence, as well as its legal status. In addition, the article considers approaches to defining the essence of institutions that are closely related to the category of “smart contract”, such as “cryptocurrency”, “digital ruble”, “mining”. The aspects of the protection of fundamental rights of the parties involved in the considered legal relationship, including consumers, are also analyzed. Examples of court decisions regarding the corresponding category of cases are given. The novelty of the research lies in determining the current approaches in relation to the essence, concept and legal status of smart contracts, including the current position of law enforcement practice in relation to this issue. In addition, the novelty of the study lies in considering the practical aspects of the conclusion and execution of smart contracts, including, indicating examples of blockchain platforms on the basis of which smart contracts can function. Ultimately, the study led to the development by the author of some proposals in order to improve the relevant legislation. In particular, the author proposed to consolidate at the legislative level the legal definition of the concept of “smart contract”, indicating the appropriate wording.
Sustainable development can be attained at a microlevel and having smart campuses around the world presents an opportunity to achieve city-wide smartness. In the process of attaining smartness on campuses, the elements requiring attention must be investigated. There are many publications on smart campuses, and this investigation used the bibliometric analysis method to identify such publications produced over the last decade. A matrix of 578 nodes and 3217 edges was developed from 285 publications on smart campus construction and procurement. Fifteen cluster themes were produced from the bibliometric analysis. The findings revealed that China contributed 48.4% of all published articles on the smart campus. The findings presented a framework from the cluster themes under the four broad infrastructure areas of building construction or repurposing, technology and IT network, continuous improvement, and smart learning and teaching management. The implications of the findings identified that IT project management, traditional procurement strategy, and standard forms of contracts such as the New Engineering Contract (NEC) and the Joint Contract Tribunal (JCT) are applicable in the procurement of smart cities.
Open access
Smart Cities and Technologies
Innovative Approaches in Technology and Social Development
The formation of local self-government in the post-Soviet space takes place in difficult economic and political conditions under the influence of various, often directed in the opposite way, factors. For Russia, the experience of forming a new institution for all post-Soviet states is of significant practical importance since it faces many difficulties in its course. Within the framework of the invariant of the transition from centralized management to decentralization, the variant of this process in the Central Asian countries is more relevant for our country since it is carried out under conditions largely similar to those in Russia. In this regard, the purpose of this article is to highlight the key historical, economic and political factors of local self-government formation in the Central Asian states in order to deepen the understanding of the ways and possibilities of creating a sufficiently autonomous local level of public power in systems that have long operated within the framework of strict centralization and seek to form a new organizational structure and use new management mechanisms and tools to improve the efficiency of the process and achieve the main systemic goal of the modern state – improving the quality of life in the country. The relevance of the study of these processes is beyond doubt due to the need to understand the role and place of self-government in the structure of public power in accordance with the amendments made in 2020 to the Constitution of the Russian Federation. The study of options for local-level opportunities in a comparative perspective when analyzing public authorities in Central Asian countries also opens the way to new solutions to Russian problems.
This contribution analyses whether blockchain as a distributed ledger technology and smart contracts as rule-based algorithms could contribute to safeguarding important public values of democracy and the rule of law in a world characterized by hyper-complexity and hyper-connectivity of public and private actors. Blockchain technology is often used as an underlying technology supporting the automatic and secure execution of rules by smart contracts. It is said that the technology could make the traditional pivotal role of trusted third parties redundant, though realistically the technology often rather enables a reorientation of their role. The use of distributed technology and algorithms has the potential to raise trust and legitimacy concerning the functioning of public institutions. However, at the same time their use pressurizes some essential principles of democracy and the rule of law, such as safeguarding fundamental rights like the right to privacy, as well as the proper functioning of checks and balances, including effective judicial review. Nonetheless, blockchain could also help generating trust and legitimacy regarding the composition of democratic institutions. Fair, secure political campaigns and voting procedures are a prerequisite of sustainable democracies. Therefore, this chapter also explores the opportunities and challenges of using blockchain technology that could contribute to the proper functioning of democracy by improving reliability and efficiency of the voting procedure and the monitoring thereof. Looking at the other side of the coin, the contribution examines the need of awareness that blockchain-based cryptocurrencies could be abused to evade political campaign finance rules due to anonymity and a lack of sufficiently effective national and supranational rules and oversight.
Xiaoyong Xiao, Lin Jin, Faris Kateb, Hooreya Mohamed Ahmed Aldeeb
Abstract Mathematics is a prerequisite for the development of blockchain technology. The deeply penetrated mathematical ideas support the establishment of the trust mechanism of the whole blockchain system, which makes the blockchain technology autonomous, decentralised, not so easy to tamper, open, anonymous and also possesses other characteristics. Due to these characteristics, the introduction of blockchain will greatly solve a series of problems faced by the quality and acquisition of big data in cities, and release more data vitality. Based on the perspective of chain blocks and big data fusion, this paper puts forward that data are the foundation of modern urban governance. Data management has become the key to modern urban governance. It puts forward that the building of a big data management system based on blockchain will strengthen the construction of the intelligent city and modernisation of urban governance capabilities.
Maria A. Egorova, Luibov Andreeva, Владимир Андреев, Imeda A. Tsindeliani · 5 authors
Abstract Using the case study method, the study examines the prospects and initiatives of the state that can create preconditions for the formation of new areas of legal regulation in the field of digital public procurement as well as issues of improving the mechanisms of information systems, taking into account the specifics of states with a multi-structured economy. The objective of the study is to assess the applicability of the tools for digital transformation of the Russian Federation in the field of public procurement in the context of international practice. Confirming all the advantages of the idea of digital transformation of public procurement systems, the Russian experience is intended to demonstrate what problems at the level of legislative regulation the state policy associated with the implementation of such systems can face. In this case, in contrast to foreign practices, the Russian system of electronic public procurement in the aggregate creates a single information space that, in fact, has no direct analogues and is a special example of interaction between electronic platforms in this area. In addition, the example of introducing distributed ledger technology into such systems is significant from the point of view of the functioning of electronic public procurement platforms. The results of this study and the tools used to assess legal regulation in the field of public procurement can be used by state authorities of the Russian Federation, taking into account the needs of entrepreneurs, to better assess the feasibility and consequences of participation in public procurement procedures. This study’s results can also be of relevance to researchers of comparative legislation in the field of legal regulation of public procurement.
The use of digital technology is increasing in all spheres of society. And the right is no exception. Many technologies are designed to simplify work, save time and serve the goals of globalization of relations, as well as their decentralization. Smart contracts are one way to achieve this goal. The article discusses the possibility of applying smart contracts in the workplace, where the personal nature of relationships is one of the features that directly affect the prospects for the use of smart contracts in the area in question.
The article analyzes the jurisprudence under the treaties in the field of construction for 2018–2020. The most common disputable situations that provoke lawsuits are highlighted. As a result of the analysis of scientific literature and foreign practice, a conclusion is formulated about the advantages of implementing and using smart contracts in the field of construction, provided that the necessary institutional environment is formed and the legal field.
The article reviews the essence of blockchain – the technology of new generation, raised from the computer and internet development. The article also analyses several aspects in legal regulation of one of the most famous cryptocurrencies: Ethereum by using the blockchain technology. Except for that, the article describes steps of computer and internet development and the involvement of blockchain in these steps, as a revolutionary invention. The article analyses the essence of blockchain technology, the steps of its development and also, coming from its high confidentiality, the possibilities of its legal regulation by the states. In this regard, several countries are represented as an example (Great Britain, Vietnam, Canada). Except for blockchain, the article reviews essence and specification of Ethereum, as the cryptocurrency, as well as smart contract, analyses the area of smart contract development and the indispensability of its legal regulation, because they have an ability to detach simple consumer agreements in one of the directions of digital economy – electronic commerce, in the nearest future. In addition to this, the binary nature Ethereum is also analyzed, in particular it can be a method of payment, as well as have a form of a legally binding deal – contract with the high self-fulfillment mechanism and securing parties confidentiality standards.
Bitcoin ha superado la barrera psicológica de los 60.000 dólares por unidad en el mes de abril de 2021 y todo apunta a que alcanzará cotas mayores en los años venideros. Como parte del ecosistema Fintech, que está conformado por una amalgama de criptoactivos, Bitcoin es tal vez la criptomoneda más conocida junto a Ethereum, pero no la única, pues ambas son “sólo la punta del iceberg de esta transformación digital de las finanzas” (Barrio, 2021). El inexorable avance de estos criptoactivos, cuyo sustrato tecnológico se basa en blockchain, representa un desafío legal sin precedentes al que el jurista debe aproximarse desde diversos sectores normativos. Precisamente, de esta ingente labor se ocupa Moisés Barrio Andrés en la monografía Criptoactivos. Retos y desafíos normativos, que ha dirigido junto a un nutrido grupo de destacados expertos en la materia. Planteada en torno a dieciocho capítulos, el estudio abarca desde los aspectos generales inherentes a las criptofinanzas hasta las cuestiones jurídico-sustantivas y jurídico-procesales más relevantes inherentes a su circulación en el tráfico jurídico.
Smart contracts are computer protocols that self-enforce encoded terms. They arguably allow for individual freedom and increased sovereignty from inconveniences. The enthusiasm goes as far as foreseeing that smart contracts will make contractual legal oversight obsolete. However, whereas contract law theory evolved to acknowledge the importance of flexibility and relationality, smart contracts activists defend the opposite direction, arguing for contractual rigidness and denial of social norms supporting complex transactions. This paper departs from this paradox to argue that (i) smart contracts based on existing technology are unlikely to thrive in complex contractual settings, and (ii) contextual analysis is important for LawTech’s propositions. Smart contracts, blockchain, system’s theory, social norms, transaction cost, flexibility, relationality, trust, co-operation, contractual governance
Today, blockchain applications are being developed for a wide variety of areas of activity - from trade and advertising to logistics and social networks. Building an application using a ready-made blockchain on one of the specialized platforms is the most efficient way to develop. The development of a decentralized voting system on one of the most functional blockchain platforms Ethereum with a developed infrastructure for creating smart contracts is being considered.
Valentin V. Sliusar, Aleksei Fyodorov, А. В. Волков, Pyotr Fyodorov · 5 authors
Remote electronic voting is the most promising way to increase voter turnout. The use of Blockchain technology will guarantee complete security and protection against hacking, ensure the secrecy of the vote and openness of the procedure for the society.The structure of the Blockchain voting is as follows. The user needs to have a mobile-specific address space. The mobile device identifier is recorded on the Blockchain as a wallet address that is associated with that user's token. The token will be limited in time in which it can be used for voting. Sending a marker (token) to a specific candidate address will constitute a vote. Received votes are securely stored in the Blockchain, and the correctness of addressing a vote to a specific candidate can always be checked in real time. All data that goes into the Blockchain vote is sent to it thanks to a smart contract.The proposed method for constructing remote electronic voting will allow to reliably store obtained results in the Blockchain, increasing the cryptographic strength of the data and the transparency of the system, and, consequently, the confidence of users in it. Early receipt of the ballot will allow to participate in voting remotely, as a result, the turnout will increase.The considered structure of Blockchain voting will have prospects of use not only in the electoral system, but at general meetings of shareholders, meetings of LLC participants, meetings of the board of directors (supervisory board), committees, forums, conferences and other events where voting is necessary.
It is proposed to justify the applicability of indicators of state confidence in civil society, that is, the state’s faith in the loyalty of society to it and in the ability to maintain its own legitimacy. The first indicator is the legalization of cryptocurrency, the second is the creation of a state cryptocurrency. There is a direct connection between the degree of legalization of cryptocurrency and the level of state confidence in the loyalty of society to it. The creation of state national cryptocurrency is a signal of a drop in state confidence in its own legitimacy.
The emergence of cryptocurrencies has become a major challenge for the regulation of civil and public law. Cryptocurrency is a new object of civil law, and its legal regime is just being formed. However, cryptocurrencies have already started appearing in court cases. The Ninth Arbitration Court of Appeal agreed with the financial manager's arguments and decided to include bitcoins in the bankruptcy estate. According to the arguments of the court of second instance, with the correct application of the principles of civil law, cryptocurrency cannot be interpreted differently than “other property”. Refusal to include it in the bankruptcy estate violates the rights of creditors. The decision of the first instance court serves as a vivid example of literalism in the interpretation of the laws prevailing in Russian justice. At the same time, the decision of the Court of Appeal shows that in certain situations related to economic disputes and the protection of creditors' rights, this literalism can be overcome within the judicial branch of government. Moreover, this can be achieved even in the absence in the written law of norms that are directly applicable to the case in question. The interpretation by the Court of Appeal of cryptocurrency as other property (from the point of view of the Civil Code) is consistent with the concept of federal law dated July 31, 2020 N 259-FZ «On digital financial assets, digital currency and on amendments to certain legislative acts of the Russian Federation».
Figure. Distributed Ledger Token Accounting System. Figure. Subjects of Social Relations Based on the Decentralized Information Platform. Figure. Derivativeness of a Digital Asset. Figure. Semantic Features of the Concept of a “Digital Asset” in Economic and Legal Aspects. Figure. Derivativeness of Polyassets and Monoassets. Figure. Types of Tokenized Assets Derived from Property. Figure. Visual Representation of the Methods of Financial and Management Accounting of Property Using Various Types of Tokenized Assets. Figure. Visual Representation of the Classification of Virtual Assets Based on the Complexity of Their Nature. Table. Comparison of Properties of Various Types of Virtual Assets of the Distributed Ledger Derivative of the Original Asset. Table. Main Properties and Parameters of Types of Tokenized Assets. Table. Classification of Virtual Assets as Tools for Implementing the Methods of Financial and Management Accounting of Property.