Deepankar Sharma, Vijaylaxmi Sharma, Amit Yadav
The rule of law does not govern all human interactions. There are times when the state bypasses legal constraints, as documented by the World Justice Project. Other times, jurisdictions may be mutually unfriendly and refuse to enforce foreign laws. One may want to rely on other means to increase the common good in these situations. Against this background, it intends to show that blockchains are a great candidate for doing so. More specifically, it shows that blockchains can complement antitrust law in realms where legal rules do not apply. Blockchains create trust between contracting parties at the individual level, enabling them to transact freely and increase consumer welfare. Concomitantly, blockchains also help in increasing decentralization; an objective shared with antitrust laws. But there is a catch. Blockchains can only supplement antitrust if the legal constraints do not impede their development. The law should thus support the decentralization of blockchains so that blockchain-based mechanisms may take over (even if imperfectly) where the law does not apply. With that in mind, it contends that law and technology should be thought of as allies-not enemies-as they feature complementary strengths and defects. Doing so leads to a new “law and technology” approach. It justify the attractiveness of that approach by showing that blockchain causes an increase in the number of transactions by creating trust and that it may overall increase the decentralization of economic transactions. The law should take into account where it applies.