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Property (Digital Assets etc) Bill [HL]: HL Bill 31 of 2024–25

The Property (Digital Assets etc) Bill is a Law Commission bill. The bill would implement a recommendation from the Law Commission’s project on digital assets. The government has produced explanatory notes.

The bill would establish that things can be property, even if they do not meet the traditional definitions of property established in case law. The bill is designed to clarify that assets such as crypto-tokens, crypto-currency and non-fungible tokens could be capable of attracting property rights. However, it does not establish that any particular category of thing is property.

The government has said that this will bring clarity to complex cases involving digital holdings.

Law Commission bills are subject to special procedures in the House of Lords. The bill has been committed to a second reading committee, to be followed by a special public bill committee.