The Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2025 has received Royal Assent and is now in force, having completed its passage through Parliament. The Act formally establishes that digital assets—such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), tokenised bank deposits and digital coins—can attract property rights under English law.
The legislation is the culmination of three years of work undertaken by Professor Green during her tenure at the Law Commission of England and Wales, where she served as Law Commissioner for Commercial and Common Law from 2020 to 2024. During this period, she led extensive research and consultation to address the legal uncertainty surrounding digital assets, whose intangible and novel nature had previously made their treatment under property law unclear.
By placing digital assets on a clear statutory footing, the Act resolves long-standing legal challenges and provides much-needed certainty for courts, businesses and investors. In doing so, the UK has become one of the first jurisdictions globally to establish a statutory basis for recognising digital assets as property.
The implications of the Act are far-reaching. Increased legal clarity is expected to make the UK a highly attractive hub for digital asset innovation, encouraging businesses to locate their commercial operations and technological development within the jurisdiction. The legislation is widely regarded as having the potential to unlock trillions of pounds in value for the global economy.
Commenting on the Act, Professor Green said “This is a very concise piece of legislation - only one substantive section long - but the change it facilitates is substantial. It emphasises the ability of English law to accommodate Digital Assets in a way that meets the legitimate expectations of the parties dealing in them.”
The Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2025 represents a significant step forward in aligning the law with technological innovation—and underscores the impact that academic expertise can have on shaping national and international legal frameworks.