Revealing best practices in legal regulation in the sphere of blockchain technology

Abstract

The paper discusses the issues of legal regulation in the sphere of the blockchain technology use. Development of this technology has significantly changed the global cyberspace. Governments of all the world countries have to face the need to regulate this sphere, but as the blockchain technology is characterized by unprecedented abilities, most states remain at least alert to it. In this context, the issues of studying international experience in legal regulation of the blockchain technology become relevant for research. The goal of this study is to consider experience of different countries and international organizations in regulation of the blockchain technology. The paper presents the results of a study of the attitude towards blockchain technologies and their application by various international organizations, such as the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the International Monetary Fund, the Eurasian Economic Union.The authors have developed a comprehensive methodology for revealing best practices of legal regulation of the blackchain technology use based on experience of the leading international organizations engaged in evaluation of the current practices of legal regulation in selected fields of economy. This methodology consists of four stages and is carried out in five directions: a general assessment of the effectiveness of legal norms, industry specificity, solving problems of using blockchain, assessing the risks of using blockchain, calculating the dynamics of indicators. Application of this methodology made it possible to evaluate the available experience of 47 countries and reveal 12 leaders of legal regulation of the blockchain technology. The obtained results may be used by concerned researchers from different countries for studying the world experience and building, on this basis, their own legal frameworks for spreading contemporary financial technologies.