#DigitalAssetBill

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

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

This draft legislation deliberately does not state which digital assets fall within the "third category" of personal property rights or how the law will treat them. Instead, these details will be developed by the courts, which can address the issues on a case-by-case basis. This is preferred over establishing strict rules in legislation, which would be less capable of responding 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 draft legislation supports this well-established approach.