Crypto-assets: Legal Characterisation and Challenges under Private Law

Abstract

Are our legal systems, and in particular that of private law, prepared to deal with crypto-assets in a way that ensures legal protection for the rights and obligations of citizens and private firms, without hindering innovation? After defining the new phenomenon of crypto-assets and its complex relationship with established legal concepts, this article deals with how the courts have characterised crypto-assets and the rights they are considered to confer; how these rights can be enforced; and the actions the judiciary and especially the legislator could undertake, among prohibition, benign neglect, regulation or extensive interpretation, and compulsory insurance, to allow our legal systems to adapt and ensure that crypto-assets prosper without shifting risk on society. Given the global nature of the crypto-assets phenomenon, only an international approach will be able to tackle this challenge.