Statement of the FinTech Council concerning the blockchain strategy of the German government in the context of public consultations
https://www.bundesfinanzministerium.de/Content/EN/Downloads/2019-04-17-state... Bitcoin is now ten years old and illustrates the potential, the successes and the problems of new blockchain technologies and DLT. It is problematic for the existing legal and economic system that this technology eludes regulatory intervention by operating on a distributed, dynamic and transnational basis. The idea of using the rules technically coded into the system as an absolute reference point instead of a legal framework appears attractive at first glance but is highly problematic. Every logical system is incomplete, as has been demonstrated using formal proofs (e.g. Gödel’s incompleteness theorem). This could also be true for DLT systems. The example of “The DAO” clearly shows that not all cases can be considered in advance and that errors exist in the system. However these systems do not provide for dealing with these cases or eliminating errors. In a way, the technical system resists a legal arrangement or correction and undermines the sovereignty of the legal system, in that users participate anonymously in a system without owner or operator. In this respect, this new technology disrupts the foundations of the existing economic and legal system. The question is whether, in the course of technological progress , the further development of operator-less blockchain technology, can create the possibilities of intervening in the technology which is necessary for the legal system, or whether the conflict between the legal system and the technical systems remains unresolved. In any case, the question arises regarding which system can prevail over the other. Morally, human sovereignty over the technical system is to be demanded; in practical terms, it remains to be seen which allegiances will form and whether humans are ready to prefer technical malfunctions to human misjudgments. At present, many societies seem to be more inclined to put their faith in technology.
participants (1)
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Giacomo