Blockchain: legal regulation and standardization

Abstract

This article analyzes the concept and essential properties of blockchain: decentralization, usage of cryptography, autonomy, presence of consensus mechanisms, anonymity and transparency of the chain of blocks. Alongside the advantages, the article describes the disadvantages of blockchain: high cost of development and implementation of blockchain-based solutions and their utilization (high energy requirements); low speed of data processing; potential unauthorized changes to the database; absence of confidentiality of blockchain users. The author considers the scientific views on the need for legal regulation of the blockchain. An overview is presented on the global achievements in the area of blockchain standardization, as well as key vectors of standardization: terminology, reference architecture, security and confidentiality, management, smart contracts. An original definition of blockchain that takes into account its essential properties is provided. Two spheres of regulation are distinguished: legal regulation of relations that apply blockchain, and regulation of the blockchain technology itself (terminology, ontology, taxonomy, reference architecture, management, etc.). The conclusion is made on invalidity of the proposals on the unified legal regulation of blockchain (for example, formation of the universal law on blockchain), implying different areas of implementation of this technology. The author justifies the need for standardization of blockchain, as well as describes the key advantages of such standardization. It is underlined that the standards would not substitute the specific legal regulation, but would ensure the conditions for creating the legal framework in accordance with the requirements of technological reality.