Blockchain Technology and Law

Blockchain is a shared, immutable digital ledger whose decentralised structure clashes with legal frameworks built for centralised authorities. This article examines the legal implications of blockchain technology in India, focusing on how decentralisation and immutability complicate accountability, jurisdiction and data protection. It distinguishes the treatment of blockchain as a technology from that of cryptocurrency, which falls within the Virtual Digital Assets regime under the Income Tax Act, 1961 and the Prevention of Money-Laundering Act, 2002. It also considers the tension between immutable records and the correction and erasure rights under the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023, and suggests off-chain storage of personal data as one possible solution. This article concludes that regulation should be technology-neutral and supported by international cooperation and clearer allocation of legal responsibility, rather than restrictive.