Conceptual framework of a Project Bank Account (PBA) blockchain payment application for the construction industry

The UK government published a guidance document in 2012 stipulating the use of project bank accounts (PBA) to promote fair and prompt payment practices in the construction industry. PBA utilises a project-specific escrow bank account to provide greater cash flow auditability and mitigate cascading payments down the supply chain. However, PBA is bureaucratic to manage and costly to set up. This paper will investigate whether blockchain can be used as an alternative system for executing PBA payments

Digital Transformation and Smart Property Contracts Registration in Egypt Using Blockchain Technology

In recent times, an increasing fascination with cryptographic-based blockchain technology has emerged. Blockchain is a decentralized, distributed database functioning as a comprehensive ledger for storing, timestamping, and encrypting data. Comprising interconnected blocks, this technology is openly accessible and immutable. Smart Property Contract registration are self-executing contracts that are subject to the terms of the agreement between the seller and the buyer. The contract defines the pre-programmed contractual rules so that they are executed when the input data meets the mentioned conditions between the two parties. Smart Property Contract Registration are written in one of the programming languages such as AssemblyScript, JavaScript, and Solidity. Blockchain technology and Smart Property Contract Registration can play a vital role in Property and smart cities in the future. The core aim of this thesis is to design a proposed model for registering Smart Property Contract Registration in Egyptian Egyptian Property Registry Office and solve the traditional registration problem of slow registration and high cost and insecure. The proposed model was proposed and implemented on the NEAR platform. Egyptian Property registration system was built using programming code for Smart Property Contract Registration written in a high-level language such as AssemblyScript and HTML, JS, and React Js programming code, and also present research uses a questionnaire study to ensure the validity of the proposed model. We conducted a questionnaire by asking a set of questions to those interested in the subject of blockchain and Smart Property Contract Registrations. The result showed that the adoption of blockchain technology in Egypt will be beneficial in terms of easy access to Property transactions in a quick time, reliability, and cost reduction

Panel 2: Art Law and Blockchain

Panel presentation on Art Law and Blockchain at 2019 AELJ Spring Symposium: Digital Art & Blockchain

Data Assets: Tokenization and Valuation

Your Data (new gold, new oil) is hugely valuable (est. $13T globally) but not a 'balance-sheet' asset. Tokenization- used by banks for payments and settlement- lets you manage, value, and monetize your data. Data is the ultimate commodity industry. This position paper outlines our vision and a general framework for tokenizing data, managing data assets and data liquidity to allow individuals and organizations in the public and private sectors to gain the economic value of data, while facilitating its responsible and ethical use. We will examine the challenges associated with developing and securing a data economy, as well as the potential applications and opportunities of the decentralised data-tokenized economy. We will also discuss the ethical considerations to promote the responsible exchange and use of data to fuel innovation and progress

NFT for Eternity

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are unique tokens stored on a digital ledger – the blockchain. They are meant to represent unique, non-interchangeable digital assets, as there is only one token with that exact data. Moreover, the information attached to the token cannot be altered as on a regular database. While copies of these digital items are available to all, NFTs are tracked on blockchains to provide the owner with proof of ownership. This possibility of buying and owning digital assets can be attractive to many individuals. NFTs are presently at the stage of early adoption and their uses are expanding. In the future, they could become a fundamental and integral component of tomorrow’s web. NFTs bear the potential to become the engine of speech: as tokenized expressions cannot be altered or deleted, they enable complete freedom of expression, which is not subject to censorship. However, tokenized speech can also bear significant costs and risks, which can threaten individual dignity and the public interest. Anyone can tokenize a defamatory tweet, a shaming tweet, or a tweet that includes personal identifying information and these tokenized expressions can never be deleted or removed from the blockchain, risking permanent damage to the reputations of those involved. Even worse, anyone can tokenize extremist political views, such as alt-right incitement, which could ultimately result in violence against minorities, and infringe on the public interest. To date, literature has focused on harmful speech that appears on dominant digital platforms, but has yet to explore and address the benefits, challenges and risks of tokenized speech. Such speech cannot be deleted from the web in the same way traditional internet intermediaries currently remove content. Thus, the potential influence of NFTs on freedom of expression remains unclear. This Article strives to fill the gap and contribute to literature in several ways. It introduces the idea of owning digital assets by using NFT technology, surveys the main uses of tokenizing digital assets and the benefits of such practices. It aims to raise awareness of the potential of tokenized speech to circumvent censorship and to act as the engine of freedom of expression. Yet it also addresses the challenges and risks posed by tokenized speech. Finally, it proposes various solutions and remedies for the abuse of NFT technology, which may have the potential to perpetuate harmful speech. As we are well aware of the challenges inherent in our proposals for mitigation, this Article also addresses First Amendment objections to the proposed solution

Navigating the Non-Fungible Token

$91.8 million,$69 million, and $52.7 million. These are the amounts associated with the three most sought after Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) sold in 2021. Although NFTs were first created in 2014, 2021 saw a massive rise in their global popularity. In fact, Google reported that in 2021, “How to buy an NFT?” was one of its most searched questions. NFTs can alternatively represent a collectible, a financial instrument, or a permanent record associated with a person, physical or digital object, or data—each presenting an entirely distinct set of legal issues. The lack of governmental expertise in emerging technologies accompanied by the shortage of regulatory guidance has created a frustrating environment for innovators. Despite being one of the fastestgrowing industries in the world, there is a remarkable deficit in legal scholarship regarding these devices. NFTs, with their attendant blockchain and smart contract technologies, can create new paradigms around ownership and identification and inspire entirely new business models. In addition to clarifying what NFTs are, this Article seeks to fill the gap in the literature by analyzing how the specific use of an NFT implicates different areas of the law. Examining the way NFTs function in sectors ranging from fine arts to finance, this Article suggests how tokenization law and policy must advance to leverage the incredible opportunities that NFTs present

Dispute Resolution Mechanism for Smart Contracts

Disputes regarding smart contracts are inevitable, and parties will need means for dealing with smart contract issues. This article highlights the need for dispute resolution mechanisms for smart contracts. The author provides analysis of the possible mechanisms to solve disputes arising from smart contracts, namely dispute resolution by traditional arbitration institutions and blockchain arbitration. Article acknowledges the benefits and challenges of both mechanisms. In the light of this, the author concludes about instituting a hybrid approach aimed at resolving disputes that will not stymie efficiencies of smart contracts

SoK: Tokenization on Blockchain

Blockchain, a potentially disruptive technology, advances many different applications, e.g., crypto-currencies, supply chains, and the Internet of Things. Under the hood of blockchain, it is required to handle different kinds of digital assets and data. The next-generation blockchain ecosystem is expected to consist of numerous applications, and each application may have a distinct representation of digital assets. However, digital assets cannot be directly recorded on the blockchain, and a tokenization process is required to format these assets. Tokenization on blockchain will inevitably require a certain level of proper standards to enrich advanced functionalities and enhance interoperable capabilities for future applications. However, due to specific features of digital assets, it is hard to obtain a standard token form to represent all kinds of assets. For example, when considering fungibility, some assets are divisible and identical, commonly referred to as fungible assets. In contrast, others that are not fungible are widely referred to as non-fungible assets. When tokenizing these assets, we are required to follow different tokenization processes. The way to effectively tokenize assets is thus essential and expecting to confront various unprecedented challenges. This paper provides a systematic and comprehensive study of the current progress of tokenization on blockchain. First, we explore general principles and practical schemes to tokenize digital assets for blockchain and classify digitized tokens into three categories: fungible, non-fungible, and semi-fungible. We then focus on discussing the well-known Ethereum standards on non-fungible tokens. Finally, we discuss several critical challenges and some potential research directions to advance the research on exploring the tokenization process on the blockchain. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first systematic study for tokenization on blockchain