European consumer law and blockchain based financial services: A functional approach against the rhetoric of regulatory uncertainty

A decade after the financial market started experimenting with blockchain, the prevailing view of EU regulators has been that blockchain based transactions do not fit into the current regulatory regime. This was illustrated by the European Banking Authority’s warning to the consumers issued in 2013 of the absence of specific legal regime designed to protect the consumers dealing with exchange platforms. A similar position was adopted by the European Securities and Market Authority in its 2017 investor alert indicating that ICO operating in unregulated spaces pose several risks the consumers should be aware of. By Examining developments until December 2018, this article argues that the extent of regulatory uncertainty is overstated and recommends a functional approach to regulation. It posits that although blockchain and cryptocurrencies are new technologies, the legal transactions they enable are not entirely novel and could largely be regulated under the existing legal rules without the need for sweeping refor

Rethinking Ethiopian Secured Transactions Law through comparative perspective: lessons from the Uniform Commercial Code of the US

Copyright 2017 The Author. Various countries have reformed their secured transaction laws recognizing the significance of modern secured transactions law in enhancing access to credit and economic development. Ethiopia has not undertaken comprehensive secured transactions law reform, despite the demonstrable mismatch between the legal regime governing security interests and the country’s current political, economic and commercial realities. In-depth analysis of the Ethiopian secured transactions law is made in this article in the light of UCC1 Art 9, English, and French secured transactions laws and the EBRD (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) Model law and the experience of civil law jurisdiction of Louisiana. I argue that secured transaction law reform in Ethiopia can be implemented based on UCC Art. 9 with some adjustment in light of Louisiana’s experience. The article uses the unitary concept of security interest and floating lien to exemplify the supremacy of the approaches and policies of UCC Art. 9 and its suitability as a model for potential secured transactions law reform in Ethiopi

Regulating Use by Law Enforcement Authorities of Real-Time Facial Recognition Technology in Public Spaces: An Incremental Approach

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Technological Populism and Its Archetypes: Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies

Blockchain technology claims to disrupt the existing financial system, the way of doing business, and to empower ordinary citizens against an elitist economy through decentralization of the decision-making process. In the political arena, the disruptive ideology branded as ‘populism’ challenges the neo-liberal establishment. By appealing to peoples’ fears, frustrations, and dissatisfaction with the political elites, exploiting distrust in the so-called establishment, populism claims to deliver more power tothe people. In this article, we draw a parallel between core foundations of political populism and those of blockchain and propose a theory of technological populism. Technological populism as reflected by blockchain platforms exploits the rhetoric of empowering the disenfranchised through decentralized decision-making process, enabling anonymity of transactions, dehumanizing trust (promoting trust in computation rather than trust in humans and institutions) as well as breaking the monopoly in the financial system and money supply. The rhetoric of empowering the disenfranchised against financial elites is not only propaganda but also a method of accumulating wealth for technocratic elites. Ultimately, the blockchain and cryptocurrency world has perfectedwhat political populists have pioneered —unrealistic promises, turning the citizen against “the elites”only so long as they are not the elites in charge