Blockchain Papers

Olga V. Chumakova

The article considers current legal issues of implementation and use of smart contracts in the sphere of capital construction. It is shown that an objective need of capital participants to conduct electronic transactions, store and process legally significant information, and conclude smart contracts has been formed. The rapid development of high technologies has inevitably led to the need to use smart contracts in the sphere of capital construction as a mechanism for quick transactions. A smart contract is a legal form of obligatory relations in the sphere of capital construction, a special means of forming and expressing the will of participants aimed at creating the desired legal consequences. The use of smart contracts will allow developing and simplifying the interaction of participants in the construction process itself, increasing their level of trust, and accelerating mandatory procedures.

Danil R. Bogachev, Aleksandr S. Kiselev

The introduction of digital technologies into many economic processes is changing the functioning principles of many government institutions. This process requires regulatory regulation of newly emerged economic relations and their proper registration and legal protection. The issues of developing information relations in the sphere of turnover of the Central Federal District are related to economic, political, social and other factors that are taken into account in strategic planning, including the national security of the Russian Federation. As part of the study, a comparison of the legal regimes of the CFD turnover using the DLT system was carried out, the legal regimes of digital currency circulation and cryptocurrency circulation as a type of CFD in developed countries were analyzed.

Elena A. Krutiy

Relationships involving blockchain organizations are largely governed by special rules that form the lex cryptographia. This regulatory framework is represented by the code of smart contracts and blockchain protocols. Regulating the legal status of digital legal entities, it acts as a local legal act, and in the field of private international law, as a supranational, conditionally autonomous legal or sub-legal system. In the first case, the lex cryptographia can be classified as a “third” legal order, developing alongside the international and domestic legal systems. In the second case, it is a system of rules that operates solely within the applicable legal order, based on the principles of autonomy of the parties’ will and freedom of contract.

Sang-Hun Kim

Although smart contracts are currently realized in a limited scope around virtual assets, the blockchain characteristics of transparency, immutability, and self-enforcing capabilities hold significant value—especially in real estate transactions—as a way to overcome the limitations of traditional real estate transaction systems, such as double selling and duplicate registration, while improving efficiency. For these reasons, several countries have implemented blockchain technology in their real estate registration or recording systems as well as in smart contracts, and are actively operating them. We also need to identify the pros and cons of these operations and utilize blockchain-based smart contracts for real estate transactions. Under current domestic law, introducing measures to digitize real estate transactions using blockchain technology presents several legal challenges. Key issues include how to address the legal validity of smart contracts, the valuation of tokens, compliance with requirements for the transfer of property rights, the legal effect of public registration, and potential conflicts with data privacy obligations. Therefore, measures to promote smart contracts must be established through a thorough review of their consistency with existing legal frameworks. First, to prepare for the activation of smart contracts, measures to ensure regulatory flexibility—such as standard trading rules that minimize post-contract modifications—must be established, along with efforts toward technical standardization. Furthermore, if smart contracts are introduced, attempting to transition the real estate registration system to a blockchain based on its core purpose is the ultimate way to resolve the issues of the existing registration system. Legislative discussion requires establishing legal grounds to grant in rem effect to the digitization and embodiment of real assets, as well as drafting a new registration system to recognize blockchain-based registration records as valid registration for the creation and transfer of real rights. Additionally, relevant legal frameworks must be revised to ensure that the operation of blockchain does not conflict with personal information protection obligations. As blockchain technology—a core domain of information and communication technology, alongside AI—expands beyond the socio-economic sphere into daily life, a more advanced discussion is needed regarding the distinct functions or roles smart contracts based on it will play at this current stage.