Blockchain as Regulatory Technology: from Code is law to Law as Code
summary
Blockchain systems enforce rules by code, with tamper‑resistance, automated smart‑contract execution, and no single operator who can unilaterally change protocol, which creates a gap between rule of code and legal enforcement. Specific incidents include DAO hack ($150M raised, $50M stolen) leading to fork -> Ethereum Classic and the Parity bug (frozen funds); governance actors span developers, miners, exchanges and mining pools. Regulation options (fiduciary duties for maintainers, coercing exchanges) exist but are hard because of polycentric power. A European Research Council grant (€2M over five years) funds empirical study of on‑chain and off‑chain governance and DAO pilots (DAOstack, Aragon).
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chapters (10)
- 0:00Start
- 4:01RULE OF LAW
- 6:09RULE BY CODE
- 7:36CODE IS LAW
- 8:43Outside the purview of the law
- 15:03New POWER DYNAMICS
- 15:20Immutability
- 19:42BLOCKCHAIN GOVERNANCE
- 24:11No BLOCKCHAIN IS AN ISLAND
- 27:13POLYCENTRIC GOVERNANCE SYSTEM
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