# Blockchain Technology as a Regulatory Technology: From Code is Law to Law is Code

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1801.02507 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1801.02507/

## Key facts

- Cited by 4 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 8 Jan 2018.

## Built on by (most cited first, 4 of 4)

- [A Sociotechnical View of Algorithmic Fairness](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.09253/) (2021)
- [AI for Global Climate Cooperation: Modeling Global Climate Negotiations, Agreements, and Long-Term Cooperation in RICE-N](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.07004/) (2022)
- [New Online Communities: Graph Deep Learning on Anonymous Voting Networks to Identify Sybils in Polycentric Governance](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2311.17929/) (2023)
- [Kami of the Commons: Towards Designing Agentic AI to Steward the Commons](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2602.14940/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

"Code is law" refers to the idea that, with the advent of digital technology, code has progressively established itself as the predominant way to regulate the behavior of Internet users. Yet, while computer code can enforce rules more efficiently than legal code, it also comes with a series of limitations, mostly because it is difficult to transpose the ambiguity and flexibility of legal rules into a formalized language which can be interpreted by a machine. With the advent of blockchain technology and associated smart contracts, code is assuming an even stronger role in regulating people's interactions over the Internet, as many contractual transactions get transposed into smart contract code. In this paper, we describe the shift from the traditional notion of "code is law" (i.e. code having the effect of law) to the new conception of "law is code" (i.e. law being defined as code).