Librería Portfolio

Generates awareness and facilitates a better understanding of the actors, phenomena and dynamics of blockchain technology and of its various domains of application.
Explores the economic, political, and legal implications that follow from the application of blockchain technology in various fields.
Brings together internationally-renowned experts from different fields and disciplines so as to facilitate a discourse that breaks up traditional patterns of intellectual exchange.



Less than a decade after the Financial Crisis, we are witnessing the fast emergence of a new financial order driven by three different, yet interconnected, dynamics: first, the rapid application of technology - such as big data, machine learning, and distributed computing - to banking, lending, and investing, in particular with the emergence of virtual currencies and digital finance; second, a disintermediation fuelled by the rise of peer-to-peer lending platforms and crowd investment which challenge the traditional banking model and may, over time, lead to a transformation of the way both retail and corporate customers bank; and, third, a tendency of de-bureaucratisation under which new platforms and technologies challenge established organisational patterns that regulate finance and manage the money supply.

These changes are to a significant degree driven by the development of blockchain technology. The aim of this book is to understand the technological and business potential of the blockchain technology and to reflect on its legal challenges. The book mainly focuses on the challenges blockchain technology has so far faced in its first application in the areas of virtual money and finance, as well as those that it will inevitably face (and is partially already facing, as the SEC Investigative Report of June 2017 and an ongoing SEC securities fraud investigation show) as its domain of application expands in other fields of economic activity such as smart contracts and initial coin offerings. The book provides an unparalleled critical analysis of the disruptive potential of this technology for the economy and the legal system and contributes to current thinking on the role of law in harvesting and shaping innovation.



Table of Contents
Regulating Blockchain: Techno-Social and Legal Challenges - An Introduction, Philipp Hacker, Ioannis Lianos, Georgios Dimitropoulos and Stefan Eich
Part I: Technological and Business Challenges of Blockchain Technology
1: The Blockchain Paradox, Paolo Tasca and Riccardo Piselli
2: Blockchains, Private Ordering and The Future of Governance, Aaron Wright and Jonathan Rohr
3: In Code(rs) We Trust: Software Developers as Fiduciaries in Public Blockchains, Angela Walch
Part II: Blockchain and the Future of Money
4: Old Utopias, New Tax Havens: The Politics of Bitcoin in Historical Perspective, Stefan Eich
5: Monetary Policy in the Digital Age, Claus D. Zimmermann
6: Global Currencies and Domestic Regulation: Embedding through Enabling?, Georgios Dimitropoulos
7: Corporate Governance for Complex Cryptocurrencies? A Framework for Stability and Decision Making in Blockchain-Based Organizations, Philipp Hacker
Part III: Blockchain and the Future of Banking, Finance, Insurance and Securities Regulation
8: Banking in a Digital Fiat Currency Regime, Rohan Grey
9: Regulating the Shadow Payment System: Bitcoin, Mobile Money and Beyond, Jonathan Greenacre
10: Blockchain-Based Insurance, Michael Abramowicz
11: Blockchain, Securities Markets and Central Banking, Alexandros Seretakis
12: The Crypto-Security: Initial Coin Offerings and EU Securities Regulation, Philipp Hacker and Chris Thomale
13: Regulation of Blockchain Token Sales in the United States, Houman Shadab
Part IV: Beyond Finance: Blockchain as a legal and regulatory challenge
14: Blockchain and Payment Systems: A Tale about Re-Intermediation, Agnieszka Janczuk-Gorywoda
15: Conflicts of Laws and Codes: Defining the Boundaries of Digital Jurisdictions, Florian Möslein
16: The Judicialisation of Blockchain, Pietro Ortolani
17: Smart Contracts: Coding the Transaction, Decoding the Legal Debates, Roger Brownsword
Part V: Connecting the Dots: Competitive Advantage and Regulation in the Era of Blockchain
18: Blockchain Competition. Gaining Competitive Advantage in the Digital Economy: Competition Law Implications, Ioannis Lianos