Over two hundred and fifty million transactions occurred on the Ethereum blockchain in 2018. This staggering level of digital commerce was powered almost entirely by “smart contracts,” or self-executing chunks of computer code that immutably transfer assets between users. Proponents of blockchain technology see these automated, irreversible agreements as one of Ethereum’s greatest innovations, offering a virtually costless contractual enforcement mechanism. Some early adopters have even claimed that electronic asset-transference has rendered traditional contract law entirely obsolete.
Volume 168 Issue 5 2020 Comment