Blockchain and Legitimacy

This book provides an in-depth perspective on a key question regarding the design and deployment of blockchain technology: can the rule of law legitimately be applied to shape and guide the design and implementation of blockchain technology? Various concepts from the philosophy of technology and design theory are discussed to address this question, especially those concerning inscription, affordance, and technological intervention and mediation. Given that blockchain influences the ‘traditional’ social order, and that its deployment challenges the fundamental tenets of the rule of law, this book explores various attributes of blockchain technology that may result in crypto-legalism, which is irreconcilable with the rule of law and typically portrays a sort of ‘unthinking’ of the rigid adherence to ‘the rule of code’ that is imposed on users.