Regulation of Blockchain Technology

James P Jalil and Jonathan Edwards

The regulation of blockchain, cryptocurrency and related technologies is in a state of flux. This is not unexpected. All new technologies, particularly disruptive ones, challenge, and sometimes befuddle, legislators and regulators as they attempt to interpret and enforce existing laws and regulations to applications never contemplated or foreseen. Over time, attempts to match old laws to new technologies flounder and news laws and regulations, better suited and better tailored to the new reality, are adopted. The process is often not without fits and starts, mis-steps and swings from over-regulation to ineffectual regulation. However, in the end regulations become as efficient and efficacious as they can be and the market adapts to the new regulatory ecosystem.

When it comes to blockchain, the immutability, the static and unchangeable quality of a distributed ledger provides regulators with a remarkable opportunity for efficient oversight and transaction identification. As soon as a transaction or piece of data is recorded or mined by the network onto a blockchain, it can never be changed or deleted. This immutability provides a complete, total and unchanging record of every