Blockchain-Based Money as the Ultimate Challenge to Sovereignty

The article considers the radical challenge that blockchain, and in particular the blockchain-based cryptocurrency Bitcoin, poses to state sovereignty. If blockchain ever succeeds to be adopted on a large scale, Bitcoin, or any other permissionless blockchain-based cryptocurrency for that matter, is a direct threat to one of the key tenets of sovereignty: the monopoly over money. Without this traditional monopoly, states will not be able to exist as they have so far. Building on this premise, the article argues that blockchain-based money is currently posing a serious challenge to state sovereignty and could therefore reshape public law. This article also contends that Bitcoin in particular might collapse for technical reasons. However, if Bitcoin proves to be resilient enough to resist ongoing legal challenges, then the very “basic norm” of our legal systems will arguably change.