Canadian Lawyer

62 J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 9 w w w . c a n a d i a n l a w y e r m a g . c o m W hen a U.S. federal judge began hearing a lawsuit early this year that alleged a popular American digital currency exchange bungled the rollout of the crypto-currency Bitcoin Cash, he started with a proviso, warning the parties that this was "a kind of brave new world" with which he was not remotely familiar. With the number of lawsuits mentioning the words crypto-currency, Bitcoin or blockchain tripling in the first two quarters of 2018 in the U.S., according to legal analytics firm Lex Machina, a trend legal experts fully expect to gain steam and eventually make its way into Canada, the legal world is going to have to come to grips with the complex, novel and thought-provok- ing legal issues that blockchain raises. While litigation surrounding blockchain, the cutting-edge foundational technology that underpins digital assets such as Bitcoin, has so far almost entirely centred around crypto-currencies, that's expected to change as blockchain is far more than just about virtual currencies. Often described as the most disruptive technology since the internet, blockchain is now moving beyond the exploration phase toward the identifi- cation and development of practical appli- cations. Though still early days, blockchain shows promise to disrupt business, social and technological models that potentially can have a pervasive impact on business and society. The technology that allows for a digital ledger to be replicated and distributed across a network of computers to create a decentralized, secure and cryptographically protected database has yielded applications that range from smart contracts and digitally recorded property assets to supply chain auditing and management of patient records. The legal world, too, will be affected. Case- Lines, a global digital evidence management provider, filed an application to patent the use of blockchain for handling documents. But as with any nascent technology, blockchain also has the potential of creating conflicts with existing laws and regulations, raising challenging and complex legal and compliance issues that deal with jurisdiction, evidence, privacy, enforce- ment and, of course, illegal activities. "People are trying to figure out what the issues are and how they can address them Crypto-currency and blockchain will increasingly be the subjects of litigation in Canada By Luis Millán BLOCKCHAIN JUSTICE L I T I G A T I O N L E G A L R E P O R T VIGG

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