The Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2025 has removed legal uncertainty and resolved private law impediments to new technology, Master of the Rolls Sir Geoffrey Vos (pictured) says.
Speaking at a reception on 12 March to mark the passing of the Property Act 2025, Sir Vos explained:
“The Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2025 must be one of the shortest Acts of Parliament ever.
“It provides simply that ‘[a] thing (including a thing that is digital or electronic in nature) is not prevented from being the object of personal property rights merely because it is neither— (a) a thing in possession, nor (b) a thing in action’.”
He continued that “it removes the legal uncertainty that was previously thought to exist as to whether digital assets would or would not be held to be a species of property under English law.”
In December, digital assets were formally recognised in law. Previously, assets including cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens, had undefined legal rights, causing issues in inheritance law and contentious matters including divorce and probate.
The new act reflects the work of the Law Commission’s 2023 recommendations to introduce a third category of personal property and the Law Society’s call for greater clarity.
People who own cryptocurrency and cryptographic tokens that prove ownership of digital assets such as videos, photos, websites, music and digital art can now officially consider them part of their estate.
The act will also enable people to take legal action in cases of theft, hacking or damage of digital property, and use digital assets as collateral for loans or mortgages.
Sir Vos added:
“The essential rationale of all this work is to identify and resolve private law impediments to the adoption of new technologies, not to dictate to national or federal regulators.”
