#DigitalAssetBill

This bill confirms that certain digital assets – such as cryptocurrency tokens – can attract ownership rights even if they do not fall within the 2 traditional categories of personal property in English and Welsh law (please see details in the policy context section below).

By doing so, this bill responds to technological developments so that individuals and businesses using these assets have appropriate legal protections. This will bring practical benefits to those individuals and businesses (explained below).

This bill deliberately does not specify which digital assets fall within the "third category" of personal property or how the law will treat them. Instead, these details will be developed by the courts, which can address these issues on a case-by-case basis. This is preferred to establishing rigid rules in legislation, which would be less able to respond flexibly to new circumstances and technological developments. Personal property law has always been developed by the courts through our common law rather than in legislation. This bill supports this established approach.