ABSTRACT
The United Kingdom in 2025 classified digital assets as property under the Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2025. This intervention followed a prolonged period of uncertainty regarding the legal nature of digital assets and the extent to which proprietary protections could be afforded to them. Prior to the enactment of the Act, the courts played a central role in addressing this uncertainty by relying on conventional common law principles to progressively refine the law in the absence of a definitive statutory framework.
This paper critically appraises how the courts have developed the jurisprudence of digital asset litigation from both procedural and substantive perspectives. It identifies five interrelated themes that are central to proprietary digital asset disputes and are argued to encapsulate the principal challenges the courts will continue to confront. These challenges arise from the borderless, anonymous, and intangible nature of digital assets, which often stretch traditional principles of personal property law and procedural rules. Drawing on pre-Act case law, this paper identifies common doctrinal patterns and proposes ways in which the courts can further adapt the legal framework to address the unique challenges of digital asset litigation.
Osemwengie, Clinton, The Role of the Courts in Shaping Proprietary Rights in Digital Asset Disputes in the UK (January 15, 2026).
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