Abstract
No doubt, most of us have gone into a local electronics store or ordered a new gadget from an online provider. After purchasing the gadget, we are eager to start operating the new purchase. Before fully utilizing the gadget, however, there are a series of screens requiring the user to read, acknowledge, and consent to, various clauses. If this process is not completed, the user is denied full access to the gadget. Thereafter, entry is granted, and the user is free to utilize the electronic device. This is a prime example of utilizing technology to automate a process that would have previously required human intervention.
Technology is driving innovation all over the world. Artificial intelligence, quantum computing, 3D printing, and augmented reality are examples of massive technological innovations that have not only captured our imaginations, but also stand to change business and popular culture in our society. One class of innovation gaining momentum revolves around blockchain. Blockchain is a method of recording information, in a secure manner, on a peer-to-peer network.[1] Essentially, it is the equivalent to a publicly shared spreadsheet or database in which entries can be added, but not altered.[2] Each discreet entry contains encoded information about previous entries as the blockchain starts to grow.[3]
Blockchain technology is a foundational element for digital assets. Digital assets are also known as cryptocurrencies, tokens, crypto assets, tokenized assets, security tokens, non-fungible tokens, and central bank digital currencies.[4] Notably, “digital asset[s] [are] created . . . when new information is added to a particular blockchain.”[5] Blockchain entries, known as blocks, allow for the exchange of existing digital assets and the creation of new assets.[6] With all these technological advances, there is a lot to consider. What happens, though, when these types of technological innovations meet old school business methods?
[1] A.J. Bosco, Blockchain and the Uniform Electronic Transactions Act, 74 Bus. Law. 243, 243-44 (2018).
[2] See id. (“Most basically, it is a digital database consisting of a continuously growing list of records, called blocks. These blocks of data are chained together using cryptography, making it difficult to rewrite the older records. Further, a blockchain and the data on it can be simultaneously used and shared within a large, decentralized, publicly available network. Importantly, it allows information to be stored and exchanged without any central authority or need for third-party verification.”).
[3] Id. at 243.
[4] Demystifying Cryptocurrency and Digital Assets, PwC, https://www.pwc.com/us/en/tech-effect/emerging-tech/understanding-cryptocurrency-digital-assets.html [https://perma.cc/V6AC-YGSQ].
[5] Id.
[6] John Gordon, Emerging Technologies and Lagging Laws: Article 12 and the UCC’s Attempt to Commercially Incorporate the Rapidly Changing World of Digital Assets, 56 Ind. L. Rev. 417, 421 (2023).
Recommended Citation
Jim Moye,
Smart Contracts Are Neither Smart Nor A Contract: The Case Against Smart Contract Utilization in Everyday Consumer or Commercial Transactions,
33
Cath. U. J. L. & Tech
169
(2025).
Available at:
https://scholarship.law.edu/jlt/vol33/iss2/6
Included in
Commercial Law Commons, Contracts Commons, Intellectual Property Law Commons, Internet Law Commons, Privacy Law Commons
