Liberalising blockchain: An application of the GATS digital trade framework

• Main Author: Razon, Arvin Kristopher A.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2019
• Subjects: Blockchains (Databases); Electronic commerce; Electronic trading of securities; E-Commerce
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/11352
• Institution: De La Salle University

Blockchain technology and the World Trade Organization share the same principles of liberalisation and democratisation of trade. Relying on cross-border data flows and an open environment, blockchain platforms, such as Bitcoin and smart contracts, dispense with a central intermediary and distribute the function of validating transactions to a peer-to-peer network of participants, who maintain and update a record of all transactions in a transparent and immutable distributed ledger. The General Agreement on Trade in Services (‘GATS’) — as the only multilateral treaty that creates binding international obligations on the treatment to be accorded to service suppliers, including online services — provides a solid foundational framework for services supplied by participants on blockchain, even if, unsurprisingly, several grey areas exist. Applying GATS to blockchain means that many prohibitive regulations imposed by countries — from banning mining to criminalising the possession of cryptocurrencies — may be considered barriers to trade.