HACKER Q&A
📣 sizediterable

Open-source licenses to disallow use in any blockchain-related projects?


My philosophical beliefs around what open source should be aside, the problems caused by blockchain-related technologies like cryptocurrencies and NFTs have become too large to ignore and I feel compelled to do anything in my power to smother them out of existence.

I wish to add a legally robust "blockchain clause" to all of my projects' licenses that disallows use directly or indirectly in blockchain-related projects. If there are any that already exist, then Ideally I wouldn't need to hire a lawyer to draft one up, but I might be willing to pay if the costs aren't too high, knowing that others would then be able to use it freely.

I personally would want to see lots of widely-depended on open source projects adopt such a clause, whatever dangerous precedents that may come with it.

  👤 gosh_shell Accepted Answer ✓
What is the context to your request? I ask in theoretical terms. Is it so ridiculous to assume a genuine good coming from a blockchain-related project, provided we are referring squarely to the technology of a decentralized and distributed ledger? Technology like this doesn’t belong to scammers and swindlers, they simply exploit it they way they would have any other technology I’m trying to understand your concerns
👤 eimrine
How about creating WTFPL-inspired license? If you do not need any other restrictions, just take the most permissive license and define what user can not do. "Do-anything-you-want-except-blockchains public license" may be a great fit for your needs.
👤 whatisweb3
What you are looking for is not an open source license.
👤 mw888
That’s an oxymoron.