Blockchain Revolution

particular set of rules to which they want to abide, but—after the choice has been
made—can no longer deviate from these rules, to the extent that smart contracts are
automatically enforced by the underlying code of the technology, regardless of the
will of the parties.”
9
This very high degree of certainty—mathematical certainty—as
to the outcome of a transaction or a smart contract is unprecedented in society. It
delivers greater efficiencies and effectively eliminates nonperformance risk because
we have no choice of breach, no choice of damages. But that’s also a downside. It
allows no room for human beings. To Josh Fairfield of Washington and Lee
University School of Law, that means “more messiness, not less. We’re going to see
more fights. ‘You didn’t actually renovate my house, I want my money back.’ We’re
going to see more human messiness, but more human messiness doesn’t mean the
technology is bad.”
10
But will people actually take the counterparty to court? De Filippi estimated that,
in the analog world, 80 percent of contract breaches aren’t enforced because they’re
too costly to pursue in court, too expensive to go into proceedings. Why should those
numbers improve in a blockchain world? When the code indicates that the contract
has been fully executed rather than breached, except one party is dissatisfied with the
outcome, will the dissatisfied party actually pursue a lawsuit? Will the courts
recognize the case? Will the small business owner back away from the corporate legal

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team of Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe or—with his modest resources—even be able
to identify his anonymous counterparty, so that he could file a lawsuit in the first
place?