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Smart contracts may only see limited real-world applications in the near future, according to a new research paper.

The paper, released by the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (a New York-based trade group for over-the-counter derivatives firms) and London-based law firm Linklaters LLP, casts a broad overview on smart contracts and distributed ledger tech.

The ISDA, formed in the 1980's, counts more than 800 firms among its membership, according to the group's website.It notably posits that the use of such contracts, which are self-executing pieces of code tied to certain conditions, are more likely to be used only in particular instances.The paper's authors argue:

"Certain operational clauses within legal contracts lend themselves to being automated. Other non-operational clauses – for instance, the governing law of a contract – are less susceptible to being expressed in machine-readable code. Some legal clauses are subjective or require interpretation, which also creates challenges."

Operational clauses, according to the paper, refer to more objective legal actions, for example one that requires a payment on a certain date based on an amount calculated by the nature of a work."It is assumed the most likely implementations of smart contracts in the near term will relate to operational clauses...rather than to non-operational clauses," the report reads.

Non-operational clauses, on the other hand, are more subjective to human interpretations, such as when the law should be applied under certain conditions. The paper's authors state that in their view, programmable contracts bay not be able to account for the subjective nuances that exist in human interpretation.

"For example, if an event of default occurs under an ISDA Master Agreement, this gives the non-defaulting party the right to terminate outstanding transactions.

But the non-defaulting party might decide it does not want to exercise such a termination right at that time...depending on the commercial and relationship context at the time of the event, the nature of the default, and other external factors," the paper noted.

But even within those operational clauses, the authors suggest that a more standardized definition of complicated terms and activities need to be outlined before the smart contracts can be put into work.

"This would require... continue reading: https://www.coindesk.com/legal-experts-blockchain-smart-contracts-spark-interpretation-challenges/

Download the Smarts Contract White Paper Here: 
https://www.scribd.com/document/355538705/Smart-Contracts-and-Distributed-Ledger-a-Legal-Perspective...

Nuco, a startup founded by a group of former Deloitte employees, has released a new white paper detailing its latest blockchain initiative.

Dubbed Aion, the proposed technology aims to connect different blockchains, including private networks operated by enterprises. The idea is that, as more companies turn to the technology for a variety of applications, there will need to be a public layer through which these future networks can communicate – and that's where Aion comes in.

As the white paper outlines, Aion would act as a kind of "bridge" between those networks, serving as "a mechanism to transfer data and value securely between them." Aion, as a public blockchain, will utilize a token aimed at incentivizing the various parties involved in both validating transactions and putting up the resources to transact between the different networks.

The paper explains:

"The AION 1 itself can be used to deploy decentralized applications on, as well as will maintain a public record of transaction between bridges. Essentially, facilitating a network that is to blockchains what the internet is to computers."

Aion's public nature is notable among enterprise-facing solutions on the market today, which have tended toward private, permissioned networks in which only approved parties can participate. Aion's "Connecting Network", according to the paper, would link both private and public networks alike.

Nuco also details a built-in governance structure that functions by way of a voting system, with the aim of .... continue reading: 
http://www.coindesk.com/nuco-builds-tokenized-blockchain-bridge-enterprise-applications/

Refugees fleeing conflict zones around the world have to deal with hardships like illness, hunger, exhaustion, and culture shock. They have to keep their families together and find shelter and food in safe environments far from what drove them from their homes.Amid all this, worrying about their economic identity doesn’t sound like it would be foremost in refugees’ minds.

The same goes for the extremely poor, whose day-to-day focus is likely to be on fulfilling basic needs like food or water.But according to Ashish Gadnis, cofounder of a blockchain platform for digital identification called BanQu, establishing an economic identity is fundamental to breaking out of the cycle of poverty.“Think about refugees,” he told the audience at Singularity University’s Exponential Finance Summit in New York this week.

“Everything that happens to them will get reset every time they move. Owning your data is the baseline that will allow you to break through and not just be a number.”




Ashish Gadnis and Jane Barrat at Exponential Finance.In a joint talk with Jane Barrat, founder of an online investment portfolio tool called GoldBean, Gadnis explained why economic identity is crucial to ending extreme poverty, and how technology can help.

BanQu defines economic identity as “the marriage of identity and commerce, resulting in a global, vetted, and manageable asset.” In the developed world, our economic identities are constantly monitored, and they’re closely tied to our ability to make transactions in our daily lives. Want to buy a car, apply for a mortgage, rent an apartment, or get a new credit card? Having a good credit history will make it all a lot easier.

Banking the 'unbankable'

But what about people who not only don’t have a good credit history, they don’t have a credit history at all—in fact, for the purposes of financial markets, they don’t even exist?“If you’re a poor farmer who’s providing grain or coffee in a large supply chain, no one knows the farmer,” Gadnis said. “This is where technology can matter, because it can allow the farmer to participate equally in the transaction.”Many aid programs around the world work by simply giving money to the poor, with the idea being that once people can stop worrying about basic needs like food, water, or shelter, they can shift focus to their longer-term wellbeing.

That’s a start, but what happens when those same people—people who have never had a recorded transaction with the larger supply chain—go to open a bank account or try to take out a loan for a new business? They find that they’re completely disconnected from the global economy and are therefore powerless even to manage their own assets.

"Banqu estimates 2.7 billion people around the world lack an economic identity. But of those 2.7 billion, 60 percent have mobile phones."

BanQu estimates that 2.7 billion people around the world are “unbanked,” meaning they lack an economic identity. But of those 2.7 billion, 60 percent have mobile phones. BanQu’s platform enables people to use an app to set up a digital identification profile where they can record transactions like remote purchases, funded wallets, and cash disbursements, as well as property, health, and education records.... continue reading: https://singularityhub.com/2017/06/11/how-blockchain-is-helping-in-the-battle-against-extreme-povert...

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