Among the claims leveled at the owners of the now bankrupt crypto startup FTX is that they agreed to contracts using emojis. I’m Amy E. Feldman.
It’s kinda hard for now bankrupt crypto startup FTX to argue the leadership wasn’t immature when they sign contracts using personalized emojis. Oh, yeah, and lost a billion dollars. But the emoji thing, am I right? Many wonder if you actually can even have a binding contract if, instead of signing a document, one party just gives it a thumbs up emoji?
Well, yes and no. Yes, electronic signatures are proof of contract acceptance under the law as long as the electronic record is in a form that can be retained and reproduced by the parties, and a personalized thumbs up does indicate acceptance of the terms. But the issue is whether the person giving the thumbs up has the authority to agree to a contract and to bind the company, whose internal controls can’t even adequately be summed up by a poop emoji.
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