Blockchain distributed ledgers and liability

Dirk A. Zetzsche, Ross P. Buckley and Douglas W. Arner
Additional contact information
Dirk A. Zetzsche: Professor of Law, ADA Chair in Financial Law (Inclusive Finance), Faculty of Law, Economics and Finance, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg
Ross P. Buckley: KPMG Law — King & Wood Mallesons Chair of Disruptive Innovation, UNSW Sydney, Australia
Douglas W. Arner: Kerry Holdings Professor in Law and Director, Asian Institute of International Financial Law, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Journal of Digital Banking, 2018, vol. 2, issue 4, 298-310

Abstract: One of the oft-noted benefits of distributed ledger technology is its security. Many commentators seem to believe that because the Bitcoin blockchain has not been hacked, somehow this means all blockchains are secure. This paper draws on recent examples to explore how risk persists when financial services are provided via distributed ledgers. We analyse the kinds of risk, how they arise and their possible legal consequences. While some technologists want to believe using blockchain will not give rise to legal liability, we demonstrate how this is not so. These liability consequences raise significant questions about how distributed ledgers should be structured, owned and, ultimately, regulated.

Keywords: Bitcoin; blockchain; distributed ledger technology; financial regulation; liabilities of blockchain; risks of blockchain (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E5 G2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://hstalks.com/article/3501/download/ (application/pdf)
https://hstalks.com/article/3501/ (text/html)
Requires a paid subscription for full access.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aza:jdb000:y:2018:v:2:i:4:p:298-310

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Journal of Digital Banking from Henry Stewart Publications
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Henry Stewart Talks ().