Cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, have captured the public’s imagination. While cryptocurrencies are interesting, the real impact is blockchain technology: a combination of technology (distributed computing and cryptography) and economics. Blockchain is just one form of distributed ledger technology (DLT); newer DLTs make Bitcoin appear primitive. It is hard to downplay the effect that DLT could have on society and in turn the law. This talk will give an overview of blockchain and distributed ledger technology and look briefly at a few of the many areas of law that could be affected including: insolvency, PPSA, land law, property, intellectual property, dispute resolution and privacy. DLT also allows the tantalising prospect of code as law.”

Alex Sims is an Associate Professor in the Department of Commercial Law at the University of Auckland Business School. Alex's main area of research is blockchain technology. Current research projects include looking at the use of blockchain in the construction industry. Her publications include “Blockchain and Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs): The Evolution of Companies” in the New Zealand Universities Law Review and “Regulating Cryptocurrencies in New Zealand”. Alex is a Research Associate of the UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies, New Zealand's representative on the OECD's Blockchain Expert Panel Advisory Board (BEPAB), member of the BlockchainNZ Executive Council and is a member of the NZ International Review Group for ISP/TC307 Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technologies.

Alex is the lead author of the research report "Regulating Cryptocurrencies in New Zealand." The research was funded by the New Zealand Law Foundation and the report is freely available at: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3340993.

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TeLENZ (Technology in Legal Education for New Zealand) is a nationwide collaborative initiative that facilitates the further integration of Information Technology-related content into core legal undergraduate education. TeLENZ involves all New Zealand law faculties/schools and is led by Associate Professor Wayne Rumbles (Jun 2015 - Feb 2020 Dean of Law, Te Piringa - Faculty of Law, University of Waikato): https://telenz.nz/

The New Zealand Law Foundation, through its Information Law and Policy Project, is the funder for the TeLENZ initiative: www.lawfoundation.org.nz

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TeLENZ: Blockchain and its potential to radically transform law (Alex Sims)