This series spotlights cypherpunks whose contributions paved the way for today's cryptographic solutions. So, this time we’ll talk about the work of Ian Grigg and a bit about him. He researched how to combine complex financial and cryptographic concepts into practical solutions and his studies of Ricardian contracts specifically have contributed to the understanding and use of current digital financial instruments.
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All we know is that Ian Grigg likely comes from Sydney, Australia, and his experience in financial cryptography spans about three decades. Grigg
Before 1995, the year when his seminal papers on
Ricardian Contracts
The studies on Ricardian contracts were the ones that earned him recognition in this series. Ian Grigg named Ricardian contracts after the 19th-century economist
\To issue such instruments, one must condense a human-readable contract in both digital and cryptographic forms. Thus, the Ricardian Contract emerged, offering an architectural framework for digital verification, but also including a document that is readable by humans and carries legal significance. Its effectiveness comes from the strategic use of markup language, which highlights essential data within the text, aiding in the extraction and use of this information by digital systems. Then, the document undergoes cryptographic hashing to create a secure, unique, and cost-efficient identifier.
In distributed ledgers, smart contracts are a similar concept. Another cryptographer,
Ricardian vs. Smart
The key difference between smart and Ricardian contracts is that the former aren’t legal documents, unlike the latter.
These contracts represent a sophisticated approach to formalizing digital agreements since they combine legal and technical terms in a single document. Their goal is to address the shortcomings of conventional accounting systems, which often record quantities without clarifying their significance. Ricardian contracts are known for their unlimited semantic richness.
Each unit of digital value in a Ricardian contract, whether a dollar or a token, is linked to a document. This document outlines what that unit represents, including all associated obligations and rights.
Lawyers typically draft this document to ensure it complies with the specific laws and regulations of a determined jurisdiction. Both humans and machines can access it and understand it. Additionally, a digital signature authenticates the contract and is identified through a cryptographic hash. The hash serves as a reference to the contract in digital transactions.
Ricardian contracts enhance the clarity and security of digital transactions, ensuring that everyone involved comprehends the contract terms they are consenting to. Linking each transaction to a particular contract simplifies dispute resolution and bolsters trust in the system.
Ricardian Contracts in Obyte
Ricardian contracts are “live” contracts in that they are designed to be both a legal agreement and a tool that can be integrated into software systems. The term “live” reflects its dynamic nature and semantic richness, making the contract conditions much more versatile.
We can say that common
However,
This hybrid approach ensures that agreements are enforceable both in the digital realm and in real-world scenarios, enhancing transparency, trust, and security in decentralized transactions.
The process is streamlined, allowing one party to draft and propose a contract while the other can accept it with just two clicks. The parties use the Obyte wallet chat to exchange contract texts and select a professional arbiter from the
This way, Obyte incarnates another interesting feature created and used by cypherpunks, offering a secure and enforceable agreement method within this ecosystem and beyond.
Read more from Cypherpunks Write Code series:
Featured Vector Image by Garry Killian /
Photograph of Ian Grigg by