Crypto-Assets: Legal Characterisation and Challenges under Private Law
Crypto-assets: Legal Characterisation and Challenges under Private Law, in 46 ELR (2020), p. 251-266
Posted: 5 Mar 2020 Last revised: 7 Apr 2020
Date Written: February 5, 2020
Abstract
This article defines the new phenomenon of crypto-assets and its complex relationship with existing and established legal concepts. It then deals with (i) how the courts have characterised crypto-assets and the rights they are considered to confer; (ii) how these rights can be enforced; and (iii) the actions the judiciary and especially the legislator could undertake to allow our legal systems to adapt and ensure that crypto currencies prosper without shifting risk on society. The article concludes that, given the global nature of the crypto-assets phenomenon, only an international agreement, or at least the adoption of international standards, will be able to tackle this challenge.
Keywords: crypto-assets, crypto-currencies, right in rem, rights in rem, rights in personam, bitcoin, libra, enforceability of rights
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