# kaal:claim:3071378-009

**Claim.** Even where a smart contract reflects the underlying bargain between the parties, lawyers may argue that smart contracts are void and unenforceable under the law.

**Type.** failure  **Support.** argued

**Holds when.**

- existing contract law doctrine applied to code-based agreements

**Source quote.**

> While smart contracts may reflect the underlying contract between parties, lawyers may argue that "smart contracts" are void and unenforceable under the law.

**From.** Wulf A. Kaal, *Blockchain Technology and Race in Corporate America* (2017), II.2 Limitations, page 13

**Cite as.** Wulf A. Kaal, Blockchain Technology and Race in Corporate America (2017). SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3071378

**Verify.** sha256 of source PDF `125f01674d13b6bb0310c4be7a20ff538dccbc36ecf352770b3c580028387edd` at https://raw.githubusercontent.com/wulfkaal/Academic-Papers/main/papers/pdf/Kaal%20-%202017%20-%20Blockchain%20Technology%20and%20Race%20in%20Corporate%20America.pdf

**Failure mode.** smart-contract-unenforceability  (family: legal-personality-and-liability-gap)

**Topics.** smart-contracts, law-and-legal-systems, risk-and-incentives

**Keywords.** smart-contracts, enforceability, contract-law, legal-risk

**Related claims.**

- restates: https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/2939127-026
- extended_by: https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/3409548-015
- extended_by: https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/5554218-009
- restates: https://wulfkaal.github.io/claims/2998033-004

**Canonical form.** This markdown file is the canonical hashed representation of the claim. Its sha256 is the content hash used for attestation.