Open AccessThe Development of Contract Law in the Field of Blockchain Technologies
Author(s) -
Yu. V. Brisov
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
kutafin university law review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2410-2059
pISSN - 2313-5395
DOI - 10.17803/2313-5395.2020.2.14.147-182
Subject(s) - license , structuring , doctrine , business , scope (computer science) , severability , investment (military) , arbitration , law and economics , legal doctrine , law , contract management , economics , political science , exclusion clause , finance , computer science , privity of contract , marketing , politics , programming language
The paper provides an overview of different legal approaches to structuring contractual relations based on blockchain technology. The author considers the USA experience of building blockchainoriented contractual relations to be cutting-edge legal solutions. The paper introduces the concept of a Simple Agreement for Future Tokens (SAFT). American investment lawyers invented this specific type of contract. SAFT shows the unique contractual solution that allows investors and inventors to form legal, contractual obligations that contradict neither American nor Russian contract law. The complexity of SAFT is also analyzed on the example of several recent blockchain projects and legal cases. The paper provides several approaches to optimizing Russian law and legal doctrine to new technological solutions. Among those are franchise, license, and loan agreements. The emphasis is made on the necessity of the implementation of new technology in the contract formation and amendment. The brief overview of COVID-19 challenges concerning the contract law doctrines of force majeure, hardship, frustration of contract are also analyzed in the scope of the paper’s central hypothesis, namely: blockchain solutions.