The Company and Blockchain Technology

Christian Witting and Martin Petrin (eds), Edward Elgard Handbook on Corporate Liability (Edward Elgar, forthcoming)

24 Pages Posted: 29 Oct 2022 Last revised: 11 Nov 2022

See all articles by Kelvin F.K. Low

Kelvin F.K. Low

National University of Singapore (NUS) - Faculty of Law

Edmund Schuster

London School of Economics - Law School

Wai Yee Wan

City University of Hong Kong; City University of Hong Kong (CityU) - Centre for Chinese & Comparative Law

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: October 25, 2022

Abstract

Blockchain and distributed ledger technology (DLT) has generated much excitement over the past decade, with proclamations that it would disrupt everything from elections to finance. Unsurprisingly, the much-maligned corporate form is also considered ripe for disruption. While certainly imperfect, and currently serviced by creaking legal infrastructure premised upon direct shareholdings, are its problems ones of centralization/intermediation? What exactly are the limits of DLT? In this chapter, we propose to expose the ignorance behind the hype that the venerable corporation will either be revitalized by DLT or replaced by Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs). We will demonstrate that proponents of DLT disruption either overestimate the potential of the technology by taking at face value its claims of security without unpacking what said security entails (and what it does not) or lack awareness of the history of and market demand for intermediation as well as the complexities of modern corporations.

Keywords: blockchain, DLT, disintermediation, accounting, DAO

JEL Classification: K22, L20, M41

Suggested Citation

Low, Kelvin F.K. and Schuster, Edmund-Philipp and Wan, Wai Yee, The Company and Blockchain Technology (October 25, 2022). Christian Witting and Martin Petrin (eds), Edward Elgard Handbook on Corporate Liability (Edward Elgar, forthcoming), Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4258114 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4258114

Kelvin F.K. Low (Contact Author)

National University of Singapore (NUS) - Faculty of Law ( email )

469G Bukit Timah Road
Eu Tong Sen Building
Singapore, 259776
Singapore

Edmund-Philipp Schuster

London School of Economics - Law School ( email )

Houghton Street
London, WC2A 2AE
United Kingdom

Wai Yee Wan

City University of Hong Kong ( email )

83 Tat Chee Avenue
Kowloon
Hong Kong

City University of Hong Kong (CityU) - Centre for Chinese & Comparative Law ( email )

83 Tat Chee Avenue
Room P5300, 5th Floor, Academic 1
Kowloon Tong
Hong Kong

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