UK legal practice has definitions for two categories of citizens’ personal property. The first is “things in possession” (tangible assets like gold). The second is “things in action” (debt or company stock).
The Law Commission has proposed a new category of “digital objects,” legislating digital assets such as cryptocurrencies and non-exchangeable tokens (NFTs) as personal property.
“Digital assets are not tangible, substantially different from physical assets and from rights-based assets such as debt and financial securities. They do not fall under the traditional categories of personal property. The Commission believes that a separate category of definition of personal property should be applied for the purposes of recognizing property rights and protecting the unique characteristics of digital assets,” the LCEW experts said in their opinion.
The Commission’s experts recommended that the U.K. government develop new amendments to the legislation defining the principles and mechanisms of collateral in cryptocurrency assets.
In pursuit of the goal of making the U.K. a global hub for crypto-assets, the lawyers said, the government should create a standing panel of experts to advise the courts on legal issues related to digital assets.
The day before, the Bank of England (BoE) announced that the design of the future digital pound will be based on anonymity and confidentiality.