Smart Contracts and Consumers

52 Pages Posted: 5 Apr 2019 Last revised: 12 Aug 2020

See all articles by Tatiana Dancy

Tatiana Dancy

University of Melbourne - Melbourne Law School

Date Written: March 18, 2019

Abstract

‘Smart contracts’ are a way of using computers to make contracts unbreakable. Contracting parties do not need to trust one another to perform or rely upon intermediaries to enforce performance. Performance is guaranteed. This is supposed to be a victory for consumers – a clever socio-economic application of cryptography that strips power from companies and governments and gives it to consumers. But it turns out that less trust does not mean more freedom, or better bargains. The law of contract supports valuable relationships both by enforcing duties and by allowing parties to escape the consequences of ill-formed contracts and oppressive terms. Smart contracts remove these safeguards. Consumers may be bound, inexorably and without recourse, to contracts that are wholly devoid of virtue. The lesson of smart contracting is clear and urgent: when we design the future of commerce, we should direct our resources towards building, not emaciating, relationships of trust.

Suggested Citation

Dancy, Tatiana, Smart Contracts and Consumers (March 18, 2019). LSE Legal Studies Working Paper No. 1/2019, now published in the West Virginia Law Review (2019), West Virginia Law Review, Vol. 122, No. 2, 2019, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3354272 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3354272

Tatiana Dancy (Contact Author)

University of Melbourne - Melbourne Law School ( email )

185 Pelham Street
Melbourne, VIC 3010
Australia

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