‘Crypto-investment’ in International Economic Law: A First Sketch

Abstract

In January 2009, Bitcoin was launched as the first ‘cryptocurrency’, a term used to refer to a ‘digital representation of value’ operating with Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT). Commonly known as ‘Blockchain’, DLT has been an object of study in different legal disciplines, which seek to understand its financial and legal impacts. However, international law literature is still silent regarding the impacts that DLT technology could have on the different legal regimes. This article contextualizes DLT as digital governance ‘infrastructure’ that could affect the way that public authority is exercised; in this sense, cryptocurrencies are the product of such infrastructure. Taking this notion into account, it is further argued here that the concept of ‘crypto-investment’ could be useful in international investment law when certain conditions come into play.

Bitcoin Vs Gold: Which One is the Most Powerful in Boosting the Shariah Equity Index? Global Evidence

“…Financial innovation has brought many changes in the aftermath of the 2008-2009 crisis, including the emergence of cryptocurrency products to become virtual payments, stores of value, and loyalty schemes to the community (Prieto Munoz, 2020). Cryptocurrency is considered the most significant financial innovation of the century through a peer-to-peer digital cash system to accelerate the process of transactions without intermediaries (J.-P. Polat & Kabakçı Günay, 2021).…”

“…In addition, transactions are very secure because cryptography algorithms cover them on a blockchain ledger (Nakamoto, 2008;Rejeb et al, 2021). Although cryptocurrency is a product of financial innovation, there is debate regarding regulation and financial consequences if it is used as a legitimate currency (Loke, 2015;Prieto Munoz, 2020) because cryptocurrencies use a decentralized system which means that the control center in the community not on financial authorities (Corbet et al, 2019). Moreover, as the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin has gained recognition as a legitimate currency in El Salvador (Gorjón, 2021).…”