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Regulation Introduction

Abstract

The following documents are intended to reflect the key cross-cutting regulatory issues of interest to blockchain networks. In particular, this presentation focuses on regulatory requirements that are necessary for secure and trustworthy implementation as well as subsequent operation. To this end, the relevant RFCs are based primarily on applicable national and international regulations in the areas of digital services and marketplaces, data protection, know your customer, anti-money laundering, antitrust law and copyright law. Of course, this chapter cannot cover every topic exhaustively, especially since there are additional specific regulatory requirements depending on the purpose and use cases of the network.

Motivation

The growing digitalization of society and economy has created a system with a limited array of large platforms emerging from it that act as private rule-makers or gatekeepers. This situation is indesirable for an open and free ecnonomy as it results in unfair conditions for other market participants, be it businesses or consumers. Thus following, a basic ruleset needs to be applied to platforms in order to even the market conditions as well as enable secure and trustworthy interactions.

Elaboration

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Internal references and dependencies

Lists of internal references and dependencies

References to best practice, examples

List of references to best practice, examples

Bibliography of selected references

Al-Zaben, Nasr, Md Mehedi Hassan Onik, Jinhong Yang, Nam-Yong Lee, and Chul-Soo Kim. 2018. ‘General Data Protection Regulation Complied Blockchain Architecture for Personally Identifiable Information Management’. In 2018 International Conference on Computing, Electronics Communications Engineering (ICCECE), 77–82. Southend, UK: IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/iCCECOME.2018.8658586.

Auer, Raphael. 2019. ‘Embedded Supervision:How to Build Regulation into Blockchain Finance’. Working Paper 811. BIS Working Papers. Monetary and Economic Department of the Bank of International Settlements. https://www.bis.org/publ/work811.pdf.

‘Blockchain and the GDPR: Solutions for a Responsible Use of the Blockchain in the Context of Personal Data | CNIL’. n.d. Accessed 12 April 2021. https://www.cnil.fr/en/blockchain-and-gdpr-solutions-responsible-use-blockchain-context-personal-data.

Daluwathumullagamage, Dulani Jayasuriya, and Alexandra Sims. 2020. ‘Blockchain-Enabled Corporate Governance and Regulation’. International Journal of Financial Studies 8 (2). https://go.gale.com/ps/anonymous?id=GALE%7CA631576238&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=22277072&p=AONE&sw=w.

Eichler, Natalie, Silvan Jongerius, Greg McMullen, Oliver Naegele, and Kai Wagner. n.d. ‘Blockchain, Data Protection, and the GDPR’, 9.

European Parliament. Directorate General for Parliamentary Research Services. 2019. Blockchain and the General Data Protection Regulation: Can Distributed Ledgers Be Squared with European Data Protection Law? LU: Publications Office. https://data.europa.eu/doi/10.2861/535.

Ferrari, Valeria. 2020. ‘The Regulation of Crypto-Assets in the EU – Investment and Payment Tokens under the Radar’. Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law 27 (3): 325–42. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1023263X20911538.

Finck, Michèle. 2018. ‘Blockchain Regulation and Governance in Europe’. Undefined. /paper/Blockchain-Regulation-and-Governance-in-Europe-Finck/40872f68ad47c1f711b8edeab6aa3a134fa9a140.

———. n.d. ‘Blockchains and Data Protection in the European Union’, no. 18: 32.

Global Legal Research Directorate Staff. 2018. ‘Regulation of Cryptocurrency Around the World’. June 2018. https://www.loc.gov/law/help/cryptocurrency/world-survey.php.

Humbeeck, Andries Van. 2019. ‘The Blockchain-GDPR Paradox’. Journal of Data Protection & Privacy, March. https://hstalks.com/article/4997/the-blockchain-gdpr-paradox/.

Laubscher, Michael, and Siraaj Khan. 2020. ‘The Regulation of Blockchain in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities’. In Legal Regulations, Implications, and Issues Surrounding Digital Data, 111–26. https://www.igi-global.com/chapter/the-regulation-of-blockchain-in-africa/255284.

Perkušić, Marko, Šime Jozipović, and Damir Piplica. 2020. ‘The Need for Legal Regulation of Blockchain and Smart Contracts in the Shipping Industry’. Transactions on Maritime Science 9 (2): 365–73. https://doi.org/10.7225/toms.v09.n02.019.

Peters, Gareth, Efstathios Panayi, and Ariane Chapelle. 2015. ‘Trends in Cryptocurrencies and Blockchain Technologies: A Monetary Theory and Regulation Perspective’. SSRN Scholarly Paper ID 3084011. Rochester, NY: Social Science Research Network. https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=3084011.

Schrepel, Thibault, and Vitalik Buterin. 2020. ‘Blockchain Code as Antitrust’. SSRN Scholarly Paper ID 3597399. Rochester, NY: Social Science Research Network. Schrepel-Buterin - Antitrust.pdf. Download. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3597399.

Teperdjian, Raffi. 2020. ‘The Puzzle of Squaring Blockchain with the General Data Protection Regulation’. Jurimetrics Journal, June. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3638736.

Van Hijfte, Stijn. 2020. ‘Blockchain and Regulation: The Legal World’. In Decoding Blockchain for Business, 89–113. Apress, Berkeley, CA. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-4842-6137-8_4.

‘Why the CPRA Is a Step Forward for Privacy but a Step Backwards for Blockchain’. n.d. JD Supra. Accessed 12 April 2021. https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/why-the-cpra-is-a-step-forward-for-9644692/.

Yano, Makoto, Chris Dai, Kenichi Masuda, and Yoshio Kishimoto. 2020. ‘Blockchain Business and Its Regulation’. In Blockchain and Crypt Currency, 107–28. Springer Open. https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/37713/2020_Book_BlockchainAndCryptCurrency.pdf?sequence=1#page=117.

Yeoh, Peter. 2017. ‘Regulatory Issues in Blockchain Technology’. Journal of Financial Regulation and Compliance 25 (2): 196–208. https://doi.org/10.1108/JFRC-08-2016-0068.

Yeung, Karen. 2019. ‘Regulation by Blockchain: The Emerging Battle for Supremacy between the Code of Law and Code as Law’. The Modern Law Review 82 (2): 207–39. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-2230.12399.

Zwitter, Andrej, and JIlles Hazenberg. 2020. ‘Decentralized Network Governance: Blockchain Technology and the Future of Regulation’. Frontiers in Blockchain 3 (12). https://doi.org/10.3389/fbloc.2020.00012.

Contributing authors: Daniel Theis Status of this document: work in progress
Last day modified: 2021-05-18