UK crypto property law gains royal assent as digital assets become clearly defined personal property

Legal certainty for investors and innovators has taken a major step forward in the United Kingdom as a new crypto property law formally enters the statute book.

Royal assent turns digital asset property rules into law

On Tuesday, Lord Speaker John McFall informed the House of Lords that the Property (Digital Assets etc) Bill had received royal assent, confirming that King Charles has approved the measure and that it is now law in the UK.

Freddie New, policy chief at advocacy group Bitcoin Policy UK, welcomed the development on X, saying the bill “becoming law is a massive step forward for Bitcoin in the United Kingdom and for everyone who holds and uses it here.” Moreover, advocates argue the move will strengthen confidence across digital markets.

Common law in the UK, built over time through judges’ decisions, had already treated digital assets as a form of property. However, the new statute implements a key 2024 recommendation from the Law Commission of England and Wales to codify that crypto is a distinct type of personal property, giving courts and market participants clearer guidance.

Advocacy group CryptoUK noted that “UK courts have already treated digital assets as property, but that was all through case-by-case judgments.” Parliament has now written that principle directly into legislation, reducing reliance on piecemeal rulings in future disputes.

Digital “things” and the expansion of personal property rights

CryptoUK said the statute confirms “that digital or electronic ‘things’ can be objects of personal property rights.” This represents a structural shift in how English law categorizes emerging technologies and could influence wider debates on digital assets personal property treatment globally.

Under UK law, personal property traditionally fell into two categories: a “thing in possession,” meaning tangible items such as a car, and a “thing in action,” which covers intangible rights like enforcing a contract. That said, crypto tokens and similar instruments did not neatly fit either label.

The newly enacted bill clarifies that “a thing that is digital or electronic in nature” is not excluded from personal property rights simply because it is neither a “thing in possession” nor a “thing in action.” Moreover, this change answers long-standing concerns that novel asset types were operating in a grey area.

In a 2024 report, the Law Commission argued that digital assets could exhibit qualities of both categories. It warned that their ambiguous position under traditional property concepts risked complicating dispute resolution in court, particularly in cases involving theft, fraud or competing claims.

Greater clarity and protection for crypto users

CryptoUK said on X that the new law delivers “greater clarity and protection for consumers and investors” and offers crypto users “the same confidence and certainty they expect with other forms of property.” The group stressed that legal certainty is a prerequisite for mature, institutional participation.

According to CryptoUK, digital assets can now be “clearly owned, recovered in cases of theft or fraud, and included within insolvency and estate processes.” However, the effectiveness of these protections will ultimately depend on how courts apply the new statute to complex real-world disputes.

The organization added that the United Kingdom now benefits from a “clear legal basis for ownership and transfer” of crypto, including tokenised real-world assets. As a result, the country is, in its view, “better positioned to support the growth of new financial products” and “more secure digital markets” as the sector evolves.

This legislative reform intersects with broader debates on crypto ownership legal clarity in major financial centers. Moreover, market participants are likely to watch how English courts interpret the fresh statutory language when handling cross-border enforcement, security interests and custodial arrangements.

Growing UK adoption and parallel regulatory plans

The UK’s financial regulator reported late last year that roughly 12% of UK adults own cryptocurrency, up from 10% in its previous findings. That rising participation underscores why policymakers have sought to align property law concepts with the reality of digital asset usage.

In April, the government also outlined plans for a wider uk crypto regulatory regime that would place crypto businesses under rules similar to those applied to other financial companies. However, officials have stressed that consumer protection remains central to the country’s ambition to serve as a global hub for crypto activity.

Together, the royal assent for the uk digital assets law and the proposed supervisory framework aim to deliver a more coherent environment for exchanges, custodians and service providers. Moreover, this dual-track approach seeks to balance innovation with robust safeguards for retail and institutional users alike.

For policymakers, aligning the evolving regulatory regime with the clarified property rights for crypto will be crucial. With statutory recognition now in place, industry groups expect more predictable outcomes in insolvency, collateralization and inheritance disputes involving digital assets.

Implications for bitcoin legal status uk and beyond

Advocates argue that firm recognition of a crypto property law framework enhances the bitcoin legal status uk investors rely on when committing capital. While the legislation does not change tax rules or financial regulation on its own, it gives participants a clearer foundation for asserting and defending ownership claims.

Internationally, other jurisdictions are likely to study the UK’s model as they consider their own responses to digital asset growth. Although some regions, such as those debating a california crypto law abandoned property approach, focus on unclaimed or dormant holdings, the UK has concentrated first on defining what these assets are in legal terms.

Overall, the Property (Digital Assets etc) Act marks a significant shift from case-law driven recognition to explicit statutory status for digital assets as personal property. As courts and regulators begin applying the framework in practice, market participants will see whether the promised clarity translates into smoother dispute resolution, safer markets and stronger long-term adoption.