Smart Contracts as Contracts of Adhesion: The Inclusion Problem of Standard Terms & Conditions in Smart Contracts

OpenAlex English

Regulations on standard terms & conditions use and their applications to smart contracts are among the problems literature has been dealing with since the so called “blockchain revolution”. A focused analysis on how smart contracts distinguish themselves from traditional contracts, is still necessary in this regard. The code language that smart contracts are based upon renders them prone to be invalid in an environment that is still mostly technologically illiterate. This study’s main objective is to detect the standards set for standard terms & conditions’ inclusion to smart contracts under German, Swiss and Turkish laws. The primary argument of the study is the existence of the necessity to provide a “translation” of the code language into a natural language, for consumer contracts. Still an unrealized potential in consumer transactions realm, the design of smart contracts has to be compliant to the translation condition, if they are to gain vast application which the futurists have aspired to.