Foreword

The third edition of this valuable guidance recognises the transformational changes that have occurred in the digital environment in the three short years since the first edition was published in mid-2020.

The legal community is much in need of the education upon which TLA's Blockchain Legal and Regulatory Guidance focuses.

In my Foreword to the second edition, I suggested that three major developments were imminent. They were (i) the launch of central bank digital currencies, (ii) the widespread adoption of digital transferable documentation, and (iii) the transition from analogue programmes to smart machine-readable documents. In addition to these challenges, lawyers now need to learn quickly to deal with the consequences of the ubiquitous availability of ChatGPT and generative artificial intelligence more generally.

Both the Law Commission and the UK Jurisdiction Taskforce continue to consider and suggest solutions for the legal impediments to the adoption of digital technologies. The TLA's Guidance is now comprehensive and wide-ranging. It will provide the necessary blockchain education for lawyers practising in every field from crime and family to competition and commercial.

I wholeheartedly congratulate the contributors and welcome the third edition of TLA's Blockchain Legal and Regulatory Guidance.

The Rt Hon Sir Geoffrey Vos,
Master of the Rolls