Legal perspectives on the potential impact of blockchain technology on international trade law

Abstract

Legal perspectives on the potential impact of blockchain technology on international trade are discussed in this dissertation. At first, there will be a discussion as to why the development of blockchain technology is relevant. Together with its main features such as being decentralised, completely digital and eliminating the middleman, it leads to reduced international trade transaction time and costs. It is highly transparent and secure and creates a record of every transactional step taken, thus reducing certain risks, such as fraud. This is followed by a discussion of the possibility that blockchain technology might lead to another international trade revolution, triggering the development of a new subset of law, namely the lex cryptographia. This is discussed together with various other benefits and opportunities of blockchain technology and its use in conjunction with digital contracts and signatures. The impact of blockchain technology on the use of international trade documentation such as the bill of lading and letter of credit is also mentioned. There are various disadvantages of blockchain technology. This include, amongst others, the energy that will be consumed in creating a transactional record, and the possible unwillingness of companies to introduce blockchain technology into their system, mainly because of a lack of knowledge. Subsequently, the legal and other challenges accompanying the adoption of blockchain technology are reviewed, such as the regulation of digital documentation and jurisdictional questions that might arise. After having identified the problems, some solutions will be proposed. Some existing model laws will briefly be discussed. A conclusion will be drawn as to whether blockchain technology is ready to be implemented from a legal perspective, taking account of the risks of premature implementation such as unregulated governmental control over citizens and constraining the full development of blockchain technology.