#27: Whose Fault Is It Anyways?: On Writing Illegal Smart Contracts

QuantLayer Podcast

We discuss comments from the CFTC about developer responsibilities and liabilities. The CFTC posits that there are a few primary groups of users of blockchain networks: (1) core developers of the underlying software; (2) developers of smart contracts on top of the underlying blockchain; (3) miners who validate transactions; and (4) users who transact with the chain’s smart contracts. Their focus is primarily around (2), or the developers of smart contracts, and what responsibilities those developers have when writing contracts that fall in the jurisdiction of the CFTC. Is a smart contract developer who writes options contracts or futures contracts or prediction market contracts - those that the CFTC would call financial products - liable for the code they write? This was a really interesting conversation because it touched on notions of developer responsibilities and law. As the world moves more and more in the direction of software, how do we ensure that code that’s being written isn’t bad?

Topics:

• On Brian Quintenz's speech at a technology event
• Responsibilities of a core developers
• Miners that validate transactions
• Smart contracts
• Applications of smart contracts
• Applying old law to new products
• General analytical framework of prediction market

Link:

CFTC speech: https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/SpeechesTestimony/opaquintenz16