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In Code(Rs) We Trust: Software Developers As Fiduciaries In Public Blockchains, Angela Walch
In Code(Rs) We Trust: Software Developers As Fiduciaries In Public Blockchains, Angela Walch
Faculty Articles
A decade into Bitcoin's existence, governance questions around it and other public blockchains abound. Do these 'decentralized' structures even have governance? If so, what does it look like? Who has power, and how is it channeled or constrained? Are power structures implicit or explicit? How can we improve upon the ad hoc governance structures of early blockchains? ls ‘on-chain governance,’ like that proposed by Tezos and others, the path forward?
In August 2016, in the aftermath of the DAO theft and resulting Ethereum hard fork, I argued in American Banker that the core developers and significant miners of public blockchains …
The Path Of The Blockchain Lexicon (And The Law), Angela Walch
The Path Of The Blockchain Lexicon (And The Law), Angela Walch
Faculty Articles
The terminology around blockchain technology is notoriously confusing, with disputes over whether a blockchain is the same as a distributed ledger or whether an appcoin is the same as a protocol token. In this article, I examine the difficulties the rapidly shifting, contested vocabulary poses for regulators seeking to understand, govern, and potentially use blockchain technology, and I offer suggestions for how to fight through the haze of unclear language.
I provide examples of the fluctuating, contested language in the blockchain technology space and describe the forces at play in shaping the language. I then lay out the problems the …