This couple got married on the blockchain

Nothing says true love and eternal commitment like a smart contract on the blockchain.

And that’s exactly how Kim Jackson and Zach LeBeau felt. They were married on Nov. 2 at the ConsenSys headquarters in Williamsburg by Dr. Christian Lundkvist, a ConsenSys employee.
“I always knew I wouldn’t get married in a traditional way … and this is as original and non-traditional as you can get!” Jackson said. “I love it and I love being a pioneer with my man.”
Her man, LeBeau is similarly on board.

“Ever since discovering the principles of decentralization, Kim and I have been trying to see our lives through that filter: how we can innovate and make different parts of our life more efficient, effective, and meaningful,” he explained. “Being able to memorialize and symbolize our union in the form of a smart contract just seems like exactly the way we want to be living our lives.”

Jackson and LeBeau at the ConsenSys offices in Brooklyn, the night they input their vows on the blockchain and made their marriage contract. (Courtesy photo)

Things have been moving fast in the blockchain world. Ethereum launched earlier this year, and is among the top of the nascent platforms for blockchains. One of Ethereum’s creators is Joseph Lubin, also the founder of ConsenSys.

What Ethereum does is take the blockchain infrastructure that makes bitcoin so appealing to so many people, and opens it up to be used as a platform for programs. Like the bitcoin blockchains, the Ethereum blockchains will have unique key codes for each individual transaction that cannot be edited or reversed and are visible to the public. Since the blockchain is not held on any one server or owned by any one corporation or government, it becomes impossible to edit surreptitiously.

Financial institutions have been flocking to the blockchain, as illustrated in this CB Insights graphic.

Essentially, you can make frictionless, automatically completing contracts. The practice is taking on steam in the finance world, but Jackson and LeBeau are paving the way for its use in many other facets of life that involve contracts.

“Is it legally binding? I think the courts will probably see certain aspects of it as legally binding but it’s not connected directly to the county clerk’s office, not yet,” LeBeau said. “One of these days it will be, as people will want to use this process more and more.”

The pair, both of whom are in the film world, are also having a traditional wedding next year.

“My family thinks we’re crazy,” Jackson said. “I tried to explain it to them but all my dad could do was joke about it, calling it the ‘old block and chain!'”