The Cambridge handbook of smart contracts, blockchain technology and digital platforms /

This is a fascinating book with surprises for the reader in each chapter. It is common knowledge that blockchain is a sophisticated technology that relies on tricky applications of hashing algorithms and a cryptographic infrastructure; also, that the distributed nature of the technology makes it challenging to implement. Furthermore, business applications of blockchain, particularly the ability to support smart contracts, create another layer of complexity that might outweigh other technological issues. Smart contracts are subject to legal regulations, contract laws in particular. This book discusses interactions between the evolving legal framework and the equally evolving technology. One of the bigger questions concerns the optimal degree of government regulation of blockchains. Possible areas for such intervention include property rights, data protection, and protection of contracting parties. The blockchain technology was developed to keep politicized governments and legal systems as far apart as possible. As a result, many central ideas behind blockchain--that it is self-enforcing, autonomous, immutable, distributed across many jurisdictions, and highly encrypted--make smart contracts incompatible with existing contract law. This book offers many examples of such collisions and areas of confusion between blockchains and legal entities. It will be fascinating to see whether the legal profession will move closer to core computer science and cryptographic subjects. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through professionals. --Jack Brzezinski, McHenry County College