UK Introduces Bill to Give Crypto Owners Legal Property Rights

The UK’s Ministry of Justice is sponsoring a bill that would grant codified personal property rights to holders of digital assets.

What’s the Scoop?

• Digital Rights: The Property (Digital Assets etc) Bill was introduced today before the UK’s House of Lords. It seeks to apply personal property rights for the first time in British history to digital holdings like cryptocurrencies, non-fungible tokens, and carbon credits.
• Legal Protections: By establishing property rights for holders of digital assets, the UK hopes to “give legal protection to owners and companies against fraud and scams, while helping judges deal with complex cases where digital holdings are disputed or form part of settlements.”
• Needed Clarity: Concerns from the UK Law Commission that digital assets could meet the criteria for both existing types of personal property in the UK, thereby impeding court disputes, reportedly prompted the creation of the new digital personal property category.

Bankless Take:

Although this bill speaks more so to the UK’s nuanced legal system than its bullishness on crypto, society has undeniably become increasingly digitized throughout the 21st century. Should this trend accelerate in the coming decades alongside greater digital asset adoption, the UK will be well-positioned to arbitrate disputes involving a novel property type.