The Law Society has welcomed the government’s new Property (Digital Assets etc) Act, which passed into law last week and places cryptos, NFTs and other digital tokens as personal property.
This settles years of uncertainty over whether digital assets could be owned, inherited, or recovered in court – a grey area that has frustrated investors and estate planners alike.
Crypto holdings, tokenised assets and digital proofs of ownership will now be treated like any other personal property.
They can be passed on in a will, used as collateral, sold, seized, or fought over in court if stolen or hacked.
For the growing share of Londoners who now hold crypto, estimated anywhere between 12 per cent and nearly a quarter of the population, it means their digital wealth is finally recognised on the same terms as more traditional assets.
Law Society chief executive Ian Jeffery said the Act “removes residual legal uncertainty”, and positions the UK as a jurisdiction capable of keeping up with modern markets.
Lawyers have long argued that English common law was flexible enough to treat digital assets as property, but the Act gives courts legislative cover to develop a “third category” of personal property.
That should, in theory, reduce disputes over whether an asset even counts as property before anyone gets to the actual argument.
A win for digital finance
The Act lands at a time when the Treasury is trying to position the UK as a digital-finance hub, while the Bank of England (BoE) and regulators wrestle with various forms of red tap.
Industry groups have said the new law sends a rare bright signal that London is open for digital business.
CryptoUK called the Act “a meaningful shift” that gives everyday holders the confidence they expect with more familiar forms of property.
Lawyers say it will make recovery efforts in fraud and insolvency smoother, while asset managers see clearer foundations for tokenisation, a space many City firms increasingly explore as they look for new revenue lines.
The legislation doesn’t decree that every digital token is automatically property, but gives judges the mandate to decide case-by-case, allowing the law to evolve as fast as the technology.
The Ministry of Justice has already commissioned the UK jurisdiction taskforce to build technical guidance on how digital assets can be controlled and used as security.