Blockchain and Bills of Lading: Legal Issues in Perspective

This chapter examines the basic concept of the new blockchain technology, also known as distributed ledger technology (DLT), as a decentralized system analogous to a ledger in which transactions are recorded. The focus of the chapter is on the application of blockchain technology to the traditional bill of lading which bears the characteristics of being at once evidence of the contract of carriage between the carrier and shipper, a receipt given by the carrier for taking the goods, and a document of title facilitated by the bill being a chose in action and a negotiable instrument. How these characteristics may be retained through the use of blockchain technology is the essence of the discussion. The chapter concludes with a critique of the blockchain concept alluding to its efficiency on the one hand and its operational downsides on the other. It also points to the traditional conservatism of the shipping industry in terms of its acceptability and proposes an approach that combines traditional business practices with the positive aspects of blockchain technology to bills of lading.