Abstract
Blockchain and the law has over the past years become a field in which a multitude of developments have taken place, and the tendency is for that progress to continue. However, due to the seemingly never-ending stream of publications and ongoing developments in the blockchain and crypto markets, the essence of the topic—concerning the legal effects and consequences of the growing adoption of blockchain based-technologies and their applications such as crypto and smart contracts—risks becoming a little lost. This chapter discusses the problem of blockchain and the law at its most basic and fundamental levels, and in so doing considers the essential traits of blockchain and the essential traits of law, looking into how both are related, and how new developments should be deployed, in a way that is faithful to the technology’s promise and capacity, and to the law’s function as the main tool for social order.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
- 3.
Stanford Journal of Blockchain Law and Policy, https://stanford-jblp.pubpub.org/, accessed 31 October 2022.
- 4.
The EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum, https://www.eublockchainforum.eu/, accessed 31 October 2022.
- 5.
De Fillipi and Wright 2018, 5–9.
- 6.
See, for example, EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum 2020a.
- 7.
Hughes 1968, pp. 411–439.
- 8.
Kelsen 1967, pp. 33–35.
- 9.
- 10.
Allot 1999, pp. 31–32.
- 11.
Aristotle 2002, Book V.
- 12.
Ibid.
- 13.
- 14.
Mangabeira Unger 1976, pp. 49–50 and 127.
- 15.
Kelsen 1967, p. 280.
- 16.
Cambridge Dictionary, ‘Technology’ https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/technology, accessed 31 October 2022.
- 17.
Rauchs et al. 2018, p. 22.
- 18.
For a description of the functioning of Bitcoin, see Narayanan et al 2016, pp. 1–54.
- 19.
Bier 2021.
- 20.
See, in general, Ors 2021.
- 21.
EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum 2020b, 7–16.
- 22.
Meier and Schluppi 2019, 27–44.
- 23.
Copeland 2020.
- 24.
European Commission, Proposal for a Regulation of The European Parliament and of the Council on Markets in Crypto-assets, and amending Directive (EU) 2019/1937, COM/2020/593 final.
- 25.
See Chap. 6 by Vieira dos Santos and Maia in this book.
- 26.
See Chap. 8 by Ferreira in this book.
- 27.
Unless, of course, crypto payments are forbidden in that specific jurisdiction.
- 28.
Dickinson 2019, 94–136.
- 29.
- 30.
See the question in Bodó and Giannopoulou 2019.
- 31.
The book by Jonathan Bier shows this perfectly, see Bier 2021.
- 32.
See Ferrari 2020, 325–342.
- 33.
See Directive (EU) 2018/843 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 amending Directive (EU) 2015/849 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing and amending Directives 2009/138/EC and 2013/36/EU, PE/72/2017/REV/1.
- 34.
See Chap. 4 by Carmo in this book.
- 35.
EU Blockchain Observatory and Forum 2020a.
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Other Documents
Directive (EU) 2018/843 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 amending Directive (EU) 2015/849 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing and amending Directives 2009/138/EC and 2013/36/EU, PE/72/2017/REV/1
European Commission, proposal for a Regulation of The European Parliament and of the Council on Markets in Crypto-assets, and amending Directive (EU) 2019/1937, COM/2020/593 final
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Lucas Pires, M. (2024). Blockchain and the Law: Setting the Floor. In: Pereira Coutinho, F., Lucas Pires, M., Correia Barradas, B. (eds) Blockchain and the Law. Information Technology and Law Series, vol 37. T.M.C. Asser Press, The Hague. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6265-579-9_1
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