Regulating Blockchain: Techno-Social and Legal Challenges

Journal article

1 online resource

9780191878206 eBook

This collection provides an in-depth analysis of the intersection between blockchain technology and the law. Covering EU, US, and Asian jurisdictions, it assesses the necessities of and opportunities for the regulation of blockchain technology in a range of key legal fields, such as competition law, securities regulation, corporate, insurance, contract, and data protection law. Instead of postulating the disruptive superiority of distributed ledger technology across potential areas of application, however, the volume offers a nuanced treatment of use cases ranging from early applications in finance to ICOs, alternative dispute resolution platforms, and smart contracts. It takes a distinct techno-social perspective in understanding the legal implications of blockchain technology as a possible new general-purpose technology. The interaction of blockchain technology with the legal system raises key questions concerning governance and government, private order and state authority, and the relationship between different ‘calculative’ spaces for assessing and allocating value. These questions do not only have a long pedigree, they are also acutely relevant to our immediate future. By drawing on technological, political, economic, and legal points of view, the volume shows why blockchain matters for societies, and why the law matters for blockchain.

Online resource

Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2019

English