Traditional contract law principles and technological change: harmony or discordance?

Abstract

This paper contains the slides for Gibson's presentation on the relationship between traditional contract law principles and technological change in the form of smart contracts. Gibson gives an overview of the foundational principles of contract law, and how these principles apply to smart contracts. Gibson ultimately concludes that while smart contracts may be useful for short-term, one-off financial exchanges, they have certain limitations that make their use problematic for complex, long-term commercial agreements.