The Rule of Code: Challenges in Regulating Decentralized Blockchain-based Systems

Professor Wright (Cardozo Law, Yeshiva University) presented on the emerging regulatory challenges surrounding public blockchains. He discussed how smart contracts are helping to create scarcity in the digital world and beginning to create a new commercial stack. Smart contracts tend to have designs that are alegal and are built on decentralized technologies that appear to have no center, creating a host of regulatory issues. He argues that these challenges will require governments to adapt with new forms of laws, regulations, and rules outside of the typical bureaucratic approach.