Blockchain Regulation and Governance in Europe

Description

In Blockchain Regulation and Governance in Europe, Michele Finck examines the relationship between blockchain technology and EU law and introduces the theme of blockchain governance. The book provides a general introduction to blockchains as both a regulatable and a regulatory technology and outlines the interaction between distributed ledger technology and specific areas of EU law, such as the General Data Protection Regulation. It should be read by anyone interested in EU law, the relationship between law, innovation and technology, and technology governance.

Michele Finck is a Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition in Munich as well as a lecturer in EU law at Keble College, University of Oxford. She holds law degrees from King's College London, the Sorbonne and the European University Institute, Florence, as well as a doctorate in law from the University of Oxford. Prior to joining the Max Planck Institute, Michele worked as a fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science. She is the author of Subnational Authorities in EU Law (2017) and an editor of The Cambridge Handbook of the Law of the Sharing Economy (Cambridge, forthcoming).

'Blockchain Regulation and Governance in Europe brilliantly connects two complex, highly significant domains of legal development in the world today. With perceptive, careful analysis, Michele Finck explains how blockchain systems are not only subject to regulatory influence, they can be tools for regulatory action. Europe is both a global focal point for data protection law and a hotbed of blockchain development. This much-needed work will enable scholars, practitioners and policy-makers to respond effectively to the difficult challenges that blockchains pose.' Kevin Werbach, University of Pennsylvania 'In this grounded, insightful book, Finck distinguishes between hype and reality in the blockchain world, and skilfully grapples with the legal and regulatory implications of each. Required reading for regulators, policy makers and anyone involved in the blockchain or cryptocurrency space - inside or outside the EU.' Angela Walch, St Mary's University School of Law, and Research Fellow, UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies 'With great acuity, Michele Finck has taken on the arduous task of researching an immature technology, which is therefore also a malleable technology. As she announces and demonstrates in this timely volume, this is the moment in time to investigate and to shape the future of blockchain technologies.' Mireille Hildebrandt, Vrije Universiteit Brussel 'Blockchain Regulation and Governance in Europe eloquently cuts through the blockchain hype, explaining why blockchain needs the law for stability and to fulfil the technology's potential.' Aaron Wright, Director of the Tech Startup Clinic, Cardozo Law School 'The arguments, extensive research and lucid prose are underpinned by scholarly rigor. The contributions do not (and rightly so) provide prescriptions to the 'lifeworld universality of the phenomenon of power'.' Joseph Savirimuthu, International Journal of Law and Information Technology