Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom and Ireland

Control over possession: DIFC Court of Appeal on Bitcoin as a third kind of property and bailment in Huobi v Tabarak—implications for common law disputes

Published on: 19 August 2024

Published by a LexisNexis Arbitration expert

Legal News

Article summary

The evolution of the classification of digital assets as property

As the cryptocurrency (crypto) sector has matured over the last decade, digital assets of every stripe have accrued significant economic worth and have, inevitably, become the focus of numerous disputes before national courts and arbitral tribunals across the common law world and beyond. Although a substantial volume of interim applications has appeared in jurisdictions such as England & Wales, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, few – if any – contested proceedings have reached conclusion to date. The causes of that pattern are not entirely germane to this note, save to observe that a recurring feature in a high share of digital asset matters is fraud and/or hacking committed by unidentified and/or unreachable actors, which has, in turn, left cases yielding final determinations thinner on the ground than would be ideal in a highly technical sphere carrying wide-ranging consequences for many branches of the law. Perhaps nothing is more critical than the question of how to legally categorise digital assets themselves, and thus to give firm shape to the boundaries of the different causes of action that flow from their inherent character...

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