The Stakes of Smart Contracts
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Building a Better Mousetrap: Patenting Biotechnology in The
DRUZIN-FINAL FINAL (DO NOT DELETE) 10/24/2014 3:19 PM RESTRAINING THE HAND OF LAW: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK TO SHRINK THE SIZE OF LAW Bryan Druzin∗ ABSTRACT ............................................................................................... 59 I. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................ 60 II. THE CASE FOR MINIMALISM ................................................................... 64 A. Assumptions and Starting Points ..................................................... 64 B. The Benefits of Minimalism ............................................................. 66 C. The Minimalist Approach to Economic Regulation ......................... 70 D. The Liability of Ideology—Both Left and Right ............................... 72 III. ARTICULATING A FRAMEWORK FOR LEGISLATIVE MINIMALISM ........... 73 A. Non-Interference .............................................................................. 75 B. Formalizing ...................................................................................... 77 C. Fine-Tuning ..................................................................................... 83 D. Dismantling ...................................................................................... 84 E. Concocting ....................................................................................... 85 IV. CLARIFYING THE FRAMEWORK ............................................................... 86 A. A Tabulated Comparison of the Strategies ..................................... -
Beauty Is Not in the Eye of the Beholder
Insight Consumer and Wealth Management Digital Assets: Beauty Is Not in the Eye of the Beholder Parsing the Beauty from the Beast. Investment Strategy Group | June 2021 Sharmin Mossavar-Rahmani Chief Investment Officer Investment Strategy Group Goldman Sachs The co-authors give special thanks to: Farshid Asl Managing Director Matheus Dibo Shahz Khatri Vice President Vice President Brett Nelson Managing Director Michael Murdoch Vice President Jakub Duda Shep Moore-Berg Harm Zebregs Vice President Vice President Vice President Shivani Gupta Analyst Oussama Fatri Yousra Zerouali Vice President Analyst ISG material represents the views of ISG in Consumer and Wealth Management (“CWM”) of GS. It is not financial research or a product of GS Global Investment Research (“GIR”) and may vary significantly from those expressed by individual portfolio management teams within CWM, or other groups at Goldman Sachs. 2021 INSIGHT Dear Clients, There has been enormous change in the world of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology since we first wrote about it in 2017. The number of cryptocurrencies has increased from about 2,000, with a market capitalization of over $200 billion in late 2017, to over 8,000, with a market capitalization of about $1.6 trillion. For context, the market capitalization of global equities is about $110 trillion, that of the S&P 500 stocks is $35 trillion and that of US Treasuries is $22 trillion. Reported trading volume in cryptocurrencies, as represented by the two largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, has increased sixfold, from an estimated $6.8 billion per day in late 2017 to $48.6 billion per day in May 2021.1 This data is based on what is called “clean data” from Coin Metrics; the total reported trading volume is significantly higher, but much of it is artificially inflated.2,3 For context, trading volume on US equity exchanges doubled over the same period. -
Evmpatch: Timely and Automated Patching of Ethereum Smart Contracts
EVMPatch: Timely and Automated Patching of Ethereum Smart Contracts Michael Rodler Wenting Li Ghassan O. Karame University of Duisburg-Essen NEC Laboratories Europe NEC Laboratories Europe Lucas Davi University of Duisburg-Essen Abstract some of these contracts hold, smart contracts have become an appealing target for attacks. Programming errors in smart Recent attacks exploiting errors in smart contract code had contract code can have devastating consequences as an attacker devastating consequences thereby questioning the benefits of can exploit these bugs to steal cryptocurrency or tokens. this technology. It is currently highly challenging to fix er- rors and deploy a patched contract in time. Instant patching is Recently, the blockchain community has witnessed several especially important since smart contracts are always online incidents due smart contract errors [7, 39]. One especially due to the distributed nature of blockchain systems. They also infamous incident is the “TheDAO” reentrancy attack, which manage considerable amounts of assets, which are at risk and resulted in a loss of over 50 million US Dollars worth of often beyond recovery after an attack. Existing solutions to Ether [31]. This led to a highly debated hard-fork of the upgrade smart contracts depend on manual and error-prone pro- Ethereum blockchain. Several proposals demonstrated how to defend against reentrancy vulnerabilities either by means of cesses. This paper presents a framework, called EVMPATCH, to instantly and automatically patch faulty smart contracts. offline analysis at development time or by performing run-time validation [16, 23, 32, 42]. Another infamous incident is the EVMPATCH features a bytecode rewriting engine for the pop- ular Ethereum blockchain, and transparently/automatically parity wallet attack [39]. -
Pwc I 2Nd Global Crypto M&A and Fundraising Report
2nd Global Crypto M&A and Fundraising Report April 2020 2 PwC I 2nd Global Crypto M&A and Fundraising Report Dear Clients and Friends, We are proud to launch the 2nd edition of our Global Crypto M&A and Fundraising Report. We hope that the market colour and insights from this report will be useful data points. We will continue to publish this report twice a year to enable you to monitor the ongoing trends in the crypto ecosystem. PwC has put together a “one stop shop” offering, focused on crypto services across our various lines of services in over 25 jurisdictions, including the most active crypto jurisdictions. Our goal is to service your needs in the best possible way leveraging the PwC network and allowing you to make your project a success. Our crypto clients include crypto exchanges, crypto investors, crypto asset managers, ICOs/IEOs/STOs/stable and asset backed tokens, traditional financial institutions entering the crypto space as well as governments, central banks, regulators and other policy makers looking at the crypto ecosystem. As part of our “one stop shop” offering, we provide an entire range of services to the crypto ecosystem including strategy, legal, regulatory, accounting, tax, governance, risk assurance, audit, cybersecurity, M&A advisory as well as capital raising. More details are available on our global crypto page as well as at the back of this report. 2nd Global Crypto M&A and Fundraising Report April 2020 PwC 2 3 PwC I 2nd Global Crypto M&A and Fundraising Report 5 Key takeaways when comparing 2018 vs 2019 There -
Liberty of Contract
YALE LAW JOURNAL LIBERTY OF CONTRACT "The right of a person to sell his labor," says Mr. Justice Harlan, "upon such terms as he deems proper, is in its essence, the same as the right of the purchaser of labor to prescribe the conditions upon which he will accept such labor from the person offering to sell it. So the right of the employee to quit the service of the employer, for whatever reason, is the same as the right of the employer, for whatever reason, to dispense with the ser- vices of such employee ........ In all such particulars the employer and the employee have equality of right, and any legis- lation that disturbs that equality is an arbitrary interference with the liberty of contract, which no government can legally justify in a free land." ' With this positive declaration of a lawyer, the culmination of a line of decisions now nearly twenty- five years old, a statement which a recent writer on the science of jurisprudence has deemed so fundamental as to deserve quotation and exposition at an unusual length, as compared with his treat- ment of other points, 2 let us compare the equally positive state- ment of a sociologist: "Much of the discussion about 'equal rights' is utterly hollow. All the ado made over the system of contract is surcharged with fallacy." ' To everyone acquainted at first hand with actual industrial conditions the latter statement goes without saying. Why, then do courts persist in the fallacy? Why do so many of them force upon legislation an academic theory of equality in the face of practical conditions of inequality? Why do we find a great and learned court in 19o8 taking the long step into the past of deal- ing with the relation between employer and employee in railway transportation, as if the parties were individuals-as if they were farmers haggling over the sale of a horse ? 4 Why is the legal conception of the relation of employer and employee so at variance with the common knowledge of mankind? The late Presi- ' Adair v. -
Decentralized Autonomous Organization Supplement."
ARTICLE 1 - PROVISIONS 17-31-101. Short title. This chapter shall be known and may be cited as the "Wyoming Decentralized Autonomous Organization Supplement." 17-31-102. Definitions. (a) As used in this chapter: (i) "Blockchain" means as defined in W.S. 34-29- 106(g)(i); (ii) "Decentralized autonomous organization" means a limited liability company organized under this chapter; (iii) "Digital asset" means as defined in W.S. 34-29- 101(a)(i); (iv) "Limited liability autonomous organization" or "LAO" means a decentralized autonomous organization; (v) "Majority of the members," means the approval of more than fifty percent (50%) of participating membership interests in a vote for which a quorum of members is participating. A person dissociated as a member as set forth in W.S. 17-29-602 shall not be included for the purposes of calculating the majority of the members; (vi) "Membership interest" means a member's ownership share in a member managed decentralized autonomous organization, which may be defined in the entity's articles of organization, smart contract or operating agreement. A membership interest may also be characterized as either a digital security or a digital consumer asset as defined in W.S. 34-29-101, if designated as such in the organization's articles of organization or operating agreement; (vii) "Open blockchain" means a blockchain as defined in W.S. 34-29-106(g)(i) that is publicly accessible and its ledger of transactions is transparent; (viii) "Quorum" means a minimum requirement on the sum of membership interests participating in a vote for that vote to be valid; 1 (ix) "Smart contract" means an automated transaction, as defined in W.S. -
Smart Contracts: Building Blocks for Digital Markets
1/25/2018 Nick Szabo -- Smart Contracts: Building Blocks for Digital Markets Smart Contracts: Building Blocks for Digital Markets Copyright (c) 1996 by Nick Szabo permission to redistribute without alteration hereby granted Glossary (This is a partial rewrite of the article which appeared in Extropy #16) Introduction The contract, a set of promises agreed to in a "meeting of the minds", is the traditional way to formalize a relationship. While contracts are primarily used in business relationships (the focus of this article), they can also involve personal relationships such as marraiges. Contracts are also important in politics, not only because of "social contract" theories but also because contract enforcement has traditionally been considered a basic function of capitalist governments. Whether enforced by a government, or otherwise, the contract is the basic building block of a free market economy. Over many centuries of cultural evolution has emerged both the concept of contract and principles related to it, encoded into common law. Algorithmic information theory suggests that such evolved structures are often prohibitively costly to recompute. If we started from scratch, using reason and experience, it could take many centuries to redevelop sophisticated ideas like property rights that make the modern free market work [Hayek]. The success of the common law of contracts, combined with the high cost of replacing it, makes it worthwhile to both preserve and to make use of these principles where appropriate. Yet, the digital revolution is radically changing the kinds of relationships we can have. What parts of our hard-won legal tradition will still be valuable in the cyberspace era? What is the best way to apply these common law principles to the design of our on-line relationships? Computers make possible the running of algorithms heretofore prohibitively costly, and networks the quicker transmission of larger and more sophsiticated messages. -
Contracts of Adhesion-Some Thoughts About Freedom of Contract
CONTRACTS OF ADHESION-SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT FREEDOM OF CONTRACT FRIEDRICH KESSLER With the development of a free enterprise system based on an un- heard of division of labor, capitalistic society needed a highly elastic legal institution to safeguard the exchange of goods and services on the market. Common law lawyers, responding to this social need, trans- formed "contract" from the clumsy institution that it was in the six- teenth century into a tool of almost unlimited usefulness and pliability. Contract thus became the indispensable instrument of the enterpriser, enabling him to go about his affairs in a rational way. Rational be- havior within the context of our culture is only possible if agreements will be respected. It requires that reasonable expectations created by promises receive the protection of the law or else we will suffer the fate of Montesquieu's Troglodytes, who perished because they did not ful- fill their promises. This idea permeates our whole law of contracts, the doctrines dealing with their formation, performance, impossibility and damages. Under a free enterprise system rationality of the law of contracts has still another aspect.1 To keep pace with the constant widening of the market the legal system has to place at the disposal of the members of the community an ever increasing number of typical business trans- actions and regulate their consequences. But the law cannot possibly anticipate the content of an infinite number of atypical transactions into which members of the community may need to enter. Society, therefore, has to give the parties freedom of contract; to accommodate the business community the ceremony necessary to vouch for the delib- erate nature of a transaction has to be reduced to the absolute minimum. -
Blockchain & Cryptocurrency Regulation
Blockchain & Cryptocurrency Regulation Third Edition Contributing Editor: Josias N. Dewey Global Legal Insights Blockchain & Cryptocurrency Regulation 2021, Third Edition Contributing Editor: Josias N. Dewey Published by Global Legal Group GLOBAL LEGAL INSIGHTS – BLOCKCHAIN & CRYPTOCURRENCY REGULATION 2021, THIRD EDITION Contributing Editor Josias N. Dewey, Holland & Knight LLP Head of Production Suzie Levy Senior Editor Sam Friend Sub Editor Megan Hylton Consulting Group Publisher Rory Smith Chief Media Officer Fraser Allan We are extremely grateful for all contributions to this edition. Special thanks are reserved for Josias N. Dewey of Holland & Knight LLP for all of his assistance. Published by Global Legal Group Ltd. 59 Tanner Street, London SE1 3PL, United Kingdom Tel: +44 207 367 0720 / URL: www.glgroup.co.uk Copyright © 2020 Global Legal Group Ltd. All rights reserved No photocopying ISBN 978-1-83918-077-4 ISSN 2631-2999 This publication is for general information purposes only. It does not purport to provide comprehensive full legal or other advice. Global Legal Group Ltd. and the contributors accept no responsibility for losses that may arise from reliance upon information contained in this publication. This publication is intended to give an indication of legal issues upon which you may need advice. Full legal advice should be taken from a qualified professional when dealing with specific situations. The information contained herein is accurate as of the date of publication. Printed and bound by TJ International, Trecerus Industrial Estate, Padstow, Cornwall, PL28 8RW October 2020 PREFACE nother year has passed and virtual currency and other blockchain-based digital assets continue to attract the attention of policymakers across the globe. -
Article Friis Glaser
International Journal of Community Currency Research 2018 VOLUME 22 (SUMMER) EXTENDING BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY TO HOST CUSTOMIZA- BLE AND INTEROPERABLE COMMUNITY CURRENCIES Gustav R.B. Friis* and Florian Glaser** * Brainbot Technologies AG, Mainz ** Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe ABSTRACT The goal of this paper is to propose an open platform for secure and interoperable virtual community currencies. We follow the established information systems design-science approach to develop a prototype that aims to combine best practices for building mutual-credit community currencies with the unique features of blockchain technology. The result is a specification of an open Internet platform that enables users to join and to host customized community currencies. The hosted currencies can be classified as credit-based future type of money with decentralized issuance. Furthermore, we describe how the transparency, security and interoperability properties of blockchain technology offer a solution to the inherent problems of existing, centrally operated community currency software. The characteristics of the prototype and its ability to fulfil the design-objectives are examined by a relative evaluation against existing payment and currency systems like Bitcoin, LETS and M-Pesa. KEYWORDS Virtual community currencies; blockchain technology; mutual-credit; LETS; Trustlines Network To cite this article: Friis, Gustav R.B. and Glaser, Florian (2018) ‘Extending Blockchain Technology to host Customizable and Interoperable Community Currencies’ International Journal of Community Currency Research 2018 Volume 22 (Summer) 71-84 <www.ijccr.net> ISSN 1325-9547. DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.15133/j.ijccr.2018.017 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY CURRENCY RESEARCH 2018 VOLUME 22 (SUMMER) 71-84 FRIIS & GLASER 1. -
Read the Report Brief
A REVOLUTION IN TRUST Distributed Ledger Technology in Relief & Development MAY 2017 “The principal challenge associated with [DLT] is a lack of awareness of the technology, especially in sectors other than banking, and a lack of widespread understanding of how it works.” - Deloitte Executive Summary1 The Upside In 2016, the blockchain was recognized as one of the top 10 In a recent report, Accenture surveyed emerging technologies by the World Economic Forum.2 The cost data from eight of the world’s ten potential of the blockchain and distributed ledger technology largest investment banks, with the goal of putting a dollar figure against potential (hereinafter “DLT”) to deliver benefits is significant. Gartner cost savings that might be achieved with estimates that DLT will result in $176 billion in added business DLT. The report concluded that the value by 2025; that total reaches $3.1 trillion by 2030.3 banks analyzed could reduce infrastructure costs by an average $8 to Investment in the field reflects the widespread belief that the $12 billion a year. The survey mapped technology can deliver value. Numerous trials, and some more than 50 operational cost metrics deployments, can be found across multiple sectors. and found the savings would break down as follows: Over two dozen countries are investing in DLT 70% savings on central financial More than 2,500 patents have been filed in the last 3 reporting 4 30-50% savings on compliance years 50% savings on centralized operations As of Q4, 2016, 28 of the top 30 banks were engaged in 50% savings on business blockchain proofs-of-concept operations. -
More Legal Aspects of Smart Contract Applications
More Legal Aspects of Smart Contract Applications Token Sales, Capital Markets, Supply Chain Management, Government and Smart Cities, Real Estate Registries, and Enabling Self-Sovereign Identity J. DAX HANSEN | PARTNER LAURIE ROSINI | ASSOCIATE CARLA L. REYES | ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF LAW +1.206.359.6324 +1.206.359.3052 Director of Legal RnD - Michigan State University College of Law [email protected] [email protected] Faculty Associate - Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University [email protected] PerkinsCoie.com/Blockchain Perkins Coie LLP | October 2018 Table of Contents INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................................................................................................. 3 I. A (VERY) BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO SMART CONTRACTS ............................................................................................... 3 THE ORIGINS OF SMART CONTRACTS ........................................................................................................................................................................... 3 SMART CONTRACTS IN A DISTRIBUTED LEDGER TECHNOLOGY WORLD ....................................................................................................... 4 II. CURRENT ACADEMIC LITERATURE AND INDUSTRY INITIATIVES RELATING TO SMART CONTRACTS .................... 6 SMART CONTRACTS AND CONTRACT LAW ................................................................................................................................................................