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Full-Text Articles in Contracts
Crypto-Counterfeiting, Joshua Fairfield
Crypto-Counterfeiting, Joshua Fairfield
Scholarly Articles
The current crypto winter has given rise to a range of legal challenges. One of the most important sets of legal challenges goes to the heart of cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrency was intended to be non-duplicatable at will, that is, not to be counterfeitable. Blockchain technology is supposed to prevent token counterfeiting through a combination of game theory and cryptography that prevents normal users from simply ordering the system to generate more tokens for their benefit.
The difficulty is that blockchain software is still software. People in charge can order and program the software to generate many more tokens for those individuals’ …
Governing The Interface Between Natural And Formal Language In Smart Contracts, Joshua A.T. Fairfield, Niloufer Selvadurai
Governing The Interface Between Natural And Formal Language In Smart Contracts, Joshua A.T. Fairfield, Niloufer Selvadurai
Scholarly Articles
Much of the confusion about the proper regulation of smart contracts stems from the fact that both code and law are expressed in language. Natural (human) and formal (computer) languages are profoundly different, however. Natural language in the form of a true legal contract expresses human meaning and expectation. Code simply acts, and when code acts contrary to the understanding of the parties to a contract, courts must have a theoretical and legal basis in order to intervene--which this Article provides.
Present scholarship on the governance of smart contracts centers on logistical problems relating to the effects of automation on …