Digital Assets Law Reform in England and Wales and Prospects for Scotland

In recent years, digital assets, including cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, have grown in significance and there are a number of legal challenges involved in accommodating them within any system. The term “digital assets” is usually understood to be an umbrella term referring to secured digital representations of value which can be transferred, stored or traded electronically by the use of distributed ledger technology (DLT) or a similar technology. The Law Commission of England and Wales (LCEW) has been conducting two significant law reform projects in this area, ie electronic trade documents and digital assets, concerning substantive law aspects of digital assets to ensure that the law of England and Wales gives legal recognition and protection to digital assets and facilitates innovation. Given that the LCEW can only make recommendations for the law of England and Wales, the scope of both law reform projects is limited to that jurisdiction.