A Practical Guide to Smart Contracts and Blockchain Law

As Aaron Grinhaus observes in A Practical Guide to Smart Contracts and Blockchain Law, “Financial technology has undergone a number of shifts throughout history: from the advent of barter … to this most recent shift from government regulated and controlled fictions of value to that governed by trustless confidence. However, the focus on the use and regulation, and thus the rules upon which we base the activities which engage financial technologies, remain base at their core."

This new publication casts a critical light on those rules, thereby providing a timely and comprehensive overview of legal issues relating to distributed ledger technology, Blockchain and smart contracts.

Expert analysis

Written as a practical guide, this book is a valuable and accessible resource for anyone seeking to learn more about the trends, developments and legal landscape of Blockchain and other related financial technologies. The analysis of this evolving area is approached through an interdisciplinary lens that provides a holistic view of how emerging advances in Fintech law interact within new and existing legal frameworks.

A Practical Guide to Smart Contracts and Blockchain Law examines a broad range of topics, including securities issues, tax considerations, business structuring, proceeds of crime and anti-money laundering, smart contracts, fundraising and social causes, security issues for cryptographic assets wallets, insolvency law and risk management for lawyers.

Readers will benefit from:

• The expertise of industry leaders – Each chapter of the book is written by a professional at the forefront of Canada’s legal Fintech community
• A multidisciplinary approach – This is the only book on financial technologies offering an interdisciplinary view of how they affect other legal disciplines
• Practical guidance – This publication provides useful information that readers can readily apply to their legal practice or business

• Corporate lawyers who advise clients on compliance requirements and setting up best practices for dealing with financial technology laws and the impact it has on other disciplines such as tax or insurance
• Technology lawyers who need to understand developing financial technology laws
• In-house lawyers working with Blockchains who need to advise on legal and regulatory considerations surrounding Fintech topics of due diligence and insurance
• Accountants who must become familiar with the tax treatment of digital assets
• Investment advisors who must apprise themselves of a burgeoning new asset class
• Entrepreneurs and businesses in the technology sector, who must be familiar with the shifting commercial and regulatory landscape