Smart contracts in view of the civil code

Abstract

Explicit legal regulation is still lacking in many countries for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ripple, Ethereum, and others. This is not unusual for a new technology. On top of such cryptocurrencies, another new technology, so-called smart contracts, has been established. Smart contracts are specialized computer code with the aim to automate the exchange of (digital) assets. In decentralized applications (Ðapps), parts of the business logic and the data storage of traditional web applications are replaced with smart contracts. They are credited with considerable potential for commercial use, especially in FinTech but also beyond. Smart contracts mostly lack explicit legal regulation as well. Hitherto there is little experience in applying current law to them. Building a business on uncertain terrain is at least risky. We seek a clarification of smart contracts in the legal context, especially against the background of the Civil Code.