Arbitrating Blockchain Disputes: Will Smart-Contracts Require Smart Dispute Resolution?

The fourth article in our Blockchain and the Law series

In our first article in the series, we considered the opportunities and challenges posed by blockchain's wider adoption. We now turn to the resolution of blockchain related disputes.

In February 2016, hackers compromised the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication's (SWIFT) systems and issued instructions requesting the transfer of almost USD 1 billion from Bangladesh's central bank. Approximately USD 100 million worth of those transactions succeeded, the majority of which was channelled into casinos in the Philippines. It is believed that if it were not for the misspelling of the word "Foundation" in some messages, a much larger amount would have been stolen. As Hayley Sweetland Edwards of Time Magazine noted, it was not the amount of the heist that caused a stir, "what shook the banking community was the breach of trust". This attack followed a similar breach in January 2015 in which