ABSTRACT
This paper investigates the private law qualification of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) within the French legal system, with particular attention to their proprietary status, mechanisms of transfer, and the doctrinal relevance of possession and control. Anchored in the framework of the Code civil, it examines how NFTs challenge established legal categories by virtue of their dematerialised and decentralised structure. Section 2 analyses the conceptual and evidentiary tensions arising from attempts to transpose classical notions of possession and delivery to digital tokens. The discussion then turns to control as a functional proxy, exploring its capacity to fulfil proprietary and remedial functions within blockchain-based environments. Section 3 advances the comparative dimension by assessing the regulatory approach of the 2024 Qatar Digital Asset Regulation, particularly its codification of control as a juridical basis for ownership and transfer. This model serves as a reference point for proposing statutory reform in French law that reconciles digital specificity with systemic continuity. The paper argues that the integration of NFTs into private law requires neither a displacement of existing concepts nor a doctrinal rupture but rather a refinement-namely, the legislative recognition of technologically grounded practices that preserve coherence while ensuring legal certainty in the governance of digital assets.
Blandino, Pierangelo, The Legal Framework for NFTs under French Private Law (July 30, 2025).
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