Handbook of Blockchain Law: A Guide to Understanding and Resolving the Legal Challenges of the Blockchain Technology

Handbook of Blockchain Law provides an overview of the key features and functionalities of blockchain technology in a legal context in a remarkably descriptive way. Blockchain has become attractive to companies and governments as it promises to solve the age-old problem of mutability in transactions – that is, it makes falsification and recalculation impossible once a transaction has been committed to the technology. The systematic and comprehensive approach set forth in this indispensable book, including coverage of existing relevant law in various jurisdictions with a particular focus on European law and US law and practical guidance on how to tackle legal issues raised by the use of blockchain, ensures a one-stop-shop reference book for anyone considering blockchain-based solutions or rendering advice for them.

Each contributor – all of them are practitioners experienced with blockchain projects within their respective areas of expertise – elucidates the implications of blockchain technology and related legal issues under such headings as the following:

• technical explanation of blockchain technology;
• contract law;
• regulatory issues and existing regulation in a variety of jurisdictions;
• data protection and privacy;
• capital markets;
• information security;
• patents and other intellectual property considerations; and
• antitrust law.

Keeping the legal questions and concepts sufficiently generic so that lawyers can benefit from the handbook irrespective of their jurisdiction and legal background, the authors cover such specific characteristics of blockchain implementation to identify and navigate through the legal issues in relation to blockchain such as smart contracts, tokenization, distributed ledger technology, digital securities, recognition of code as law, data privacy challenges and blockchain joint ventures.

Because blockchain is a relatively new technology still in process and raises a multitude of legal questions, this well-balanced introduction – that allows non-IT experts to understand the groundwork for legal assessments – provides a solid basis for organizations and their legal advisors in identifying and resolving blockchain-related issues. Legal practitioners, in-house lawyers, IT professionals and advisors, consultancy firms, blockchain associations, law makers and legal scholars with an interest in understanding the legal perspective will welcome this highly informative and practical book.