TL;DR
- UK grants crypto full property rights, ending years of legal uncertainty and ambiguity.
- New bill establishes digital assets as personal property, enabling clearer inheritance and recovery processes.
- Reform strengthens courts’ ability to address theft, insolvency, and ownership disputes involving cryptocurrencies.
The United Kingdom moves toward full legal recognition of crypto by approving legislation that places Bitcoin and digital assets on the same footing as traditional property. The reform provides clear protections for ownership, inheritance, and asset recovery, areas that until now depended on scattered court rulings.
A New Legal Category for UK Property
The Property (Digital Assets etc) Bill received royal assent after its announcement in the House of Lords by John McFall. With the approval of King Charles III, digital assets now fall under the protection of property law, ending years of uncertainty about how courts should classify tokens, wallets, or on-chain balances.
Industry groups responded with strong support. Bitcoin Policy UK called the measure “a huge step forward,” while CryptoUK noted that Parliament finally codified what judges had been handling case by case. Before the new law, courts often treated crypto as property, but without a coherent framework.
Under long-standing British legal doctrine, personal property belongs to two categories: things in possession (physical items) and things in action (rights enforceable through contracts). Legal experts repeatedly highlighted that cryptocurrencies did not fit either category cleanly, creating problems in fraud cases, inheritance disputes, and corporate insolvencies involving digital balances.
The new statute closes that gap by allowing courts to treat “a thing of a digital or electronic nature” as personal property even when it falls outside traditional classifications. According to CryptoUK, the reform strengthens the ability of courts to resolve cases involving stolen funds, lost access, or ownership debates, and gives creditors and administrators clearer rules during bankruptcy proceedings that involve crypto holdings.
Industry advocates argue that clearer rights of ownership will also support institutional participation, as firms gain confidence that on-chain assets enjoy the same status as other forms of property.
Government Eyes a Broader Digital Finance Framework
Officials describe the reform as part of a larger attempt to position the UK as a center of digital finance. Data from the Financial Conduct Authority shows that about 12% of adults in the country now hold some form of cryptocurrency, an increase that has accelerated during the past few years.
At the same time, policymakers debate whether to ban political donations made in crypto. Such a prohibition would directly affect Reform UK, which recently became the first British party to accept contributions in digital assets. The measure is currently under internal review as part of the upcoming Elections Bill, though officials have not confirmed when a final decision will be announced.
Under Nigel Farage, Reform UK has tried to frame itself as the most crypto-friendly party in the country, pushing for regulatory clarity and wider adoption. Lawmakers now face a dual challenge: encourage innovation in digital markets while determining how crypto fits into political financing rules.
