“Guns, Germs, and Steel” is the title of a book published in 1997 by Jared Diamond, an American writer, geographer, and biologist. 

This work, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize, had an ambitious goal: to uncover—among other historical milestones— The Evolutionary Origins of Humanity, which eventually led to the global conquest by European and Asian civilizations over other parts of the world, such as the Americas and Africa. 

Diamond, in a spectacular overview of 13,000 years of human history, identifies the factors that were—in his view—fundamental to the progress of various regions in Europe and Asia relative to the rest of the world, and that shaped the current development of different human civilizations. 

Among the key factors, the author refers to the title of the study: Technology, disease, and biogeographic factors were key in laying the foundation for world powers. 

These same foundations would later serve as the basis for the Industrial Revolution and—consequently—the enormous gap between the developed and developing worlds. 

The researcher, of course, faced criticism from other scientists and theorists who attempted to explain the outcome by citing other causes. 

That said, regardless of whether Diamond was correct in his research and conclusions, the fact remains that there is a decisive factor—especially today—that cannot be overlooked in the progress of the modern world and developed economies:

A revolutionary technology

Today, modern technology is virtually synonymous with one word: the Internet.

The development of what we now know as the “Internet,” around 1969, was the result of a U.S. Department of Defense project known as ARPANET, which was designed to facilitate communication for military purposes. 

This network marked a turning point in the way information is transmitted. It allowed us to share, via a computer, any type of information with anyone anywhere in the world, and laid the groundwork for revolutionary technologies such as servers, websites, email, search engines, and more—all of which are widely used across all industries, including, of course, the legal industry.

In this scenario, the questions that arise for the legal field are as follows: 

How can we use this technology to make the profession more agile? 

If we can send messages via “email,” what is stopping us from sending legal documents electronically as well? Essentially, legal documents are nothing more than information contained in a form recognized by law, in the proper form and with the legal effects provided for by law. 

A simplistic analysis reveals that the obstacles to the legal validity of “electronic documents” are—essentially— consent (signature) and convenience which can be used to adulterate them. This, of course, undermines the “legality” of such instruments and, therefore, their legitimacy and effectiveness with regard to the legal effects provided for by law.

Let's consider, for example, a promissory note (a negotiable instrument) that can be duplicated, triplicated, and replicated an infinite number of times at very low cost (by digitally printing it on a computer). 

This situation would lead to a host of legal problems. But above all, it would lead to legal uncertainty—exactly what a legal framework is meant to avoid. 

If the issue with electronic documents—in terms of avoiding legal uncertainty—is proving consent and preventing tampering, then… how can we ensure that an electronic document can be signed and cannot be tampered with? 

After many years—and, unsurprisingly—the solution to this technological problem came in the form of even more technology. 

On the one hand, the issue of consent (signature) was resolved through technology and the “certification authority” model, which provides a security mechanism to verify the identity of the person signing the electronic document through a certification service provider.

On the other hand, the issue of preventing document tampering was addressed by the same underlying technology used in cryptocurrency transactions: blockchain. This platform, consisting of interconnected “blocks” of information, prevents the information in an electronic document from being altered without leaving a record (or evidence) of such tampering.

The good news—and the latest development—is that Since 2021, our legal system has regulated (along with other legal aspects of electronic information) the legality of these technological elements, to make them a reality and to be able to put them into practice in our daily lives.

The Ministry of Industry and Commerce (the regulatory body) has recently issued a resolution to clarify the conditions under which “electronic transferable documents” can be issued and transferred in the market.

Given these circumstances… could anyone doubt the potential of documents such as promissory notes, CDAs, bonds, and stocks—among others—that can be issued and transferred electronically under conditions of legal certainty?. 

Without a doubt, this documentary and technological innovation has the potential to revolutionize our country’s market and economy—just as agriculture did some 12,000 years ago, the Industrial Revolution did in the 19th century, and the introduction of the Internet did a few decades ago.

Welcome to the revolution in electronic documents (Transmittable and Traceable).