The Property (Digital Assets etc) Bill has received Royal Assent, becoming the Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2025.

We have commented previously on the Bill here. It was introduced to Parliament following a report from the Law Commission (discussed here) which recommended the introduction of legislation to clarify the legal status of digital assets such as cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and carbon credits.

The Law Commission found that there are certain types of digital assets to which property rights relate, but which do not easily fit within the two categories of personal property that the law has traditionally recognised (i.e. things in action and things in possession). It therefore proposed the recognition of a ‘third category’ of things. At the same time, it recommended that any legislation be deliberately agnostic about the precise characteristics of such ‘third category things’ so as to unlock the further development of the common law and enable it to respond to technological developments.

The Government endorsed the Law Commission’s recommendations, and adopted its draft wording for the Bill, which now finds its way onto the statute book. The Act provides 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 thing in possession, nor
• a thing in action.

Commenting on the Bill at Third Reading, the Minister of State for Courts and Legal Services, Sarah Sackman KC MP said, “this is more than a Bill; it is a landmark step towards ensuring that the law of England and Wales, and Northern Ireland, not only keeps pace with innovation but leads it. The Bill will give digital pioneers the certainty they need, backed by the legal strength they expect from our country. It shows that our economy is open, our ambition is global, and we are here to support innovation”.

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