U.K. authorities have passed a bill that recognizes digital assets like cryptocurrencies and stablecoins as property.
Summary
- The U.K. has passed a new law formally recognizing digital assets like cryptocurrencies and stablecoins as personal property.
- The legislation introduces a third category of property, giving digital assets a clear legal status beyond traditional frameworks.
The Property (Digital Assets etc) Bill has been given royal assent, which is the final step in the legislative process, Lord Speaker John McFall confirmed at the House of Lords on Tuesday.
So far, the U.K. has had no official statutory stance regarding the property status of crypto, but under common law, digital assets like Bitcoin and stablecoins such as USDT have been largely considered property based on court rulings issued on a case-by-case basis.
However, with King Charles now signing the bill into law, marked by the royal assent, digital assets now have a solid legal footing that would make it easier to handle them in courts and across financial systems.
First introduced in September 2024, the bill is based on a report presented by the U.K.’s Law Commission earlier that year, which recommended clearer recognition of digital assets under property law.
“We conclude that the flexibility of common law allows for the recognition of a distinct category of personal property that can better recognize, accommodate and protect the unique features of certain digital assets (including crypto-tokens and crypto assets),” the Law Commission said at the time.
Basically, in the U.K., there are two traditional categories of personal property, and the bill introduces a third category alongside the existing “things in possession” and “things in action” that would offer legal protections for digital holdings.
The bill clarifies that “a thing that is digital or electronic in nature” does not fall outside the scope of property rights just because it is neither a “thing in possession” nor a “thing in action.”
According to the digital assets advocacy group CryptoUK, the law would be instrumental for cases where proving ownership, recovering stolen assets, and handling digital holdings in insolvency or estate processes are necessary.
“This change provides greater clarity and protection for consumers and investors by ensuring that digital assets can be clearly owned, recovered in cases of theft or fraud, and included within insolvency and estate processes. It marks a meaningful shift towards giving everyday holders the same confidence and certainty they expect with other forms of property,” the advocacy group said in a Dec. 2 X post.
“Crucially, this development also strengthens the foundations for future innovation across the UK’s digital asset and tokenisation landscape,” they added.
The unique nature of cryptocurrencies has raised a lot of complications during legal disputes, which is why many jurisdictions have considered including this asset class under property laws.
Earlier this year, the Russian Ministry of Justice announced it was preparing a draft bill that would classify crypto assets as property so they could be subject to seizure during criminal proceedings. Meanwhile, an Indian high court recently ruled that cryptocurrencies qualify as property under Indian law.
