Similar to the early days of the Internet, today, the effectiveness and applicability of legal regulations are being challenged by the advent of blockchain technology. Yet, unlike the Internet, which has evolved into an increasingly centralized system that was largely brought within the reach of the law, blockchain technology still resists regulation and is thus described by some as being “alegal”, i.e., situated beyond the boundaries of existing legal orders and, therefore, challenging them. This article investigates whether blockchain technology can indeed be qualified as alegal and the extent to which such technology can be brought back within the boundaries of a legal order by means of targeted policies. First, the article explores the features of blockchain-based systems, which make them hard to regulate, mainly due to their approach to disintermediation. Second, drawing from the notion of alegality in legal philosophy, the article analyzes how blockchain technology enables acts that transgress the temporal, spatial, material, and subjective boundaries of the law, thereby introducing the notion of “alegality by design”—as the design of a technological artifact can provide affordances for alegality. Third, the article discusses how the law could respond to the alegality of blockchain technology through innovative policies encouraging the use of regulatory sandboxes to test for the “functional equivalence” and “regulatory equivalence” of the practices and processes implemented by blockchain initiatives.

中文翻译：

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区块链技术的合法性

与早期的互联网类似，如今，法律法规的有效性和适用性正受到区块链技术出现的挑战。然而，与互联网已经演变成一个越来越集中的系统并在很大程度上被纳入法律范围的情况不同，区块链技术仍然抵制监管，因此被一些人描述为“合法”，即位于现有边界之外。法律命令，因此挑战它们。本文探讨了区块链技术是否真的可以被认定为合法，以及该技术在多大程度上可以通过有针对性的政策回归到法律秩序的范围内。首先，本文探讨了基于区块链的系统的特点，这些特点使其难以监管，主要是由于他们的去中介化方法。其次，从法律哲学中的合法性概念出发，分析了区块链技术如何使行为超越法律的时间、空间、物质和主观界限，从而引入“设计合法性”的概念——作为设计技术人工制品的数量可以为合法性提供支持。第三，本文讨论了法律如何通过鼓励使用监管沙箱来测试区块链举措实施的实践和流程的“功能等效性”和“监管等效性”的创新政策来应对区块链技术的合法性。文章分析了区块链技术如何促成超越法律的时间、空间、物质和主观界限的行为，从而引入“设计合法性”的概念——因为技术工件的设计可以为合法性提供可供性。第三，本文讨论了法律如何通过鼓励使用监管沙箱来测试区块链举措实施的实践和流程的“功能等效性”和“监管等效性”的创新政策来应对区块链技术的合法性。文章分析了区块链技术如何促成超越法律的时间、空间、物质和主观界限的行为，从而引入“设计合法性”的概念——因为技术工件的设计可以为合法性提供可供性。第三，本文讨论了法律如何通过鼓励使用监管沙箱来测试区块链举措实施的实践和流程的“功能等效性”和“监管等效性”的创新政策来应对区块链技术的合法性。