Blockchain Group

Blockchain and distributed ledger technologies are being developed into infrastructure for the regulation and distribution of data, rights, and obligations. This form of utility, wrapped in business logic, has meaningful implications for various enterprise use cases.

Yet its greatest potential lies in the creation of value for individuals and groups among which trust is either expensive or non-existent.

At the frontiers of our legal systems today, scholars of distributed systems and researchers studying behavioral economics theories are combining their understanding with breakthroughs in cryptographic science and hardware computing capabilities. They continue to experiment with new ways of shaping systems that can enable local and large-scale transformations in how humans interact with one another, in step with the proliferation of digitally intelligent machines that are coming online in our world today.

While CodeX has maintained a strong community and research agenda around computational law more broadly, we believe that blockchain technologies will have significant impact in the field of law, both as legal infrastructure for technology-mediated economic and social activity, and as a technology that can improve access to legal services.

Our Blockchain Group has the following mandate:
1. Research and publish informed perspectives around the blockchain ecosystem.
2. Track, guide and influence policy and regulations in this space.
3. Become an inclusive, neutral forum for regulators and policy-makers to convene with academics, professionals, and technologists across Stanford and the wider blockchain community.

To learn more about the Blockchain Group or to participate, please join our mailing list for updates and meeting invites. For more information, please write to Blockchain Group Co-Chairs Kushagra Shrivastava (kushagra@codex.stanford.edu) and Tony Lai (tony@codex.stanford.edu).

Stanford Journal of Blockchain Law and Policy

The Stanford Journal of Blockchain Law & Policy is the first law journal to publish on the greater blockchain technology space. It features Articles (peer-reviewed), Essays, and Comments. In conjunction with its print run, JBLP is published online and is open access.

Edited by Stanford University and Stanford-affiliated academics and practitioners based out of the Blockchain Group, JBLP fills a critical need in the field for a neutral, disinterested, and reputable platform to publish high-quality content and to advance discourse. Its scope spans (but is not limited to) the legal aspects of blockchains and cryptocurrencies, regulatory and policy ramifications, governance, and the future of decentralization.

For more information, please write to Editor-in-Chief Steven Nam at snam@codex.stanford.edu.

RegTrax Forum – A Blockchain Regulatory Tracking Initiative

The RegTrax Forum supports the development of an effective regulatory environment in the blockchain space by providing a neutral forum for key stakeholders to engage in a curated, open examination and discussion of key issues and developments. Through these engagements, RegTrax encourages informed decision-making by policymakers.

The Forum consists of regular virtual regulatory roundtables with a focus on the latest and emerging issues in the blockchain regulatory environment highlighting hot-spots, fault-lines and opportunities. Each roundtable will feature thought leaders in a curated conversation, with opportunity for engagement and participation from the wider blockchain community.

For more information, please contact Blockchain Group member Reuben Youngblom at youngblom@stanford.edu.

Blockchain Governance Roundtable

The Blockchain Governance Roundtable addresses policy issues such as the assignment of control and liability in the implementation of public and private distributed ledgers — embedding interactions governed through distributed systems within the context of existing legal frameworks.  Blockchain governance design has become a salient topic in the space that stands to benefit from polycentric, enduring cooperation between stakeholders with divergent as well as convergent interests.

For more information, please write to Blockchain Group Co-Chair Tony Lai at tony@codex.stanford.edu.