Time to create digital asset regulations

Written by Akber Datoo and Lisa McClory at D2 Legal Technology

The growing adoption of crypto assets and integration with financial services and traditional financial asset classes and markets is now making it imperative for global consensus on cryptoasset regulation. TradFi firms have started to realise that they need crypto to survive and succeed in the future, heralding a convergence of TradFi innovation and DeFi - with many governments and regulators working hard to secure their positions as leading global financial centres. At the same time, attitudes to regulation have differed significantly across the world, from lax to enforcement led - a patchwork approach that has stifled innovation in some jurisdictions and undermined global stability. The legal system has also stepped into the gap, clarifying that cryptoassets can be ‘property’ in the English law case of AA v Persons Unknown who hold Bitcoin (2019), and therefore that theft and loss can give rise to proprietary remedies for victims. Property rights are essential to allow access to int…