[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-292418-105":59,"doc-detail-292418-en":131},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":124,"head_meta":126,"extra_data":128,"updated_unix":130},105,"en","the-nature-of-property-in-cryptoassets","The nature of property in cryptoassets","","Disputes involving cryptoassets have expanded alongside growth of the cryptoasset market. Traditional contract, tort, or trust law can resolve some matters, yet proprietary questions create distinct problems. Although cryptoassets are generally treated as property, resolving proprietary disputes requires a reasoned justification for applying traditional rules of title designed for tangible property. The article addresses two foundational issues: the subject-matter of property rights in cryptoassets and the proprietary effect of blockchain transactions, critically evaluating existing views and proposing an approach for applying title rules.",{"@graph":69,"@context":123},[70,84,106],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-nature-of-property-in-cryptoassets/292418/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/the-nature-of-property-in-cryptoassets/292418.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Hazel","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-28","2026-09-17",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":105},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",18,{"@type":107,"mainEntity":108},"FAQPage",[109,115,119],{"name":110,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":112},"Why do proprietary disputes about cryptoassets require more than traditional contract, tort, or trust principles?","Question",{"text":113,"@type":114},"Even when cryptoassets are generally accepted as property, proprietary issues raise conundrums that require a robust explanation for applying traditional title rules originally developed for tangible property.","Answer",{"name":116,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":117},"What two foundational questions does the paper focus on?",{"text":118,"@type":114},"It asks (1) what the subject-matter of the property right in cryptoassets is, and (2) what the proprietary effect of a blockchain transaction is, including when and how title passes.",{"name":120,"@type":111,"acceptedAnswer":121},"How does the outcome affect actions in cases of unauthorised misappropriation of Bitcoins?",{"text":122,"@type":114},"Whether legal and/or equitable title has passed determines whether the claimant can vindicate proprietary rights, reverse unjust enrichment, and/or mount an equitable claim via a constructive trust doctrine.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":125,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":127,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":129,"site_id":62},292418,1789651147,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":132},{"doc_id":129,"user_id":133,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":134,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":135,"file_id":136,"file_url":137,"file_type":138,"file_size":139,"view_count":105,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":56,"language":140,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":130,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},137441390410,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/2000252f4ab5702993?_k=1776741390130283984","Legal Studies (2023), 43, 480–498 doi:10.1017/lst.2022.53  \nRESEARCH ARTICLE  \nThe nature of property in cryptoassets Timothy Chan*†   \nFaculty of Law, National University of Singapore, Singapore  \n*Author e-mail: [chanwxt@nus.edu.sg](chanwxt@nus.edu.sg)[ ](chanwxt@nus.edu.sg)(Accepted 6 December 2022)  \nAbstract  \nDisputes relating to cryptoassets have proliferated in recent years, along with the rise of the cryptoasset market. Some of these can be resolved using traditional principles of contract, tort or trust law, but proprietary issues raise particular conundrums. While cryptoassets have generally been accepted to be property, that is merely the starting point. To properly resolve proprietary disputes, it is necessary to provide a reasoned and robust explanation for why particular rules of title originally developed in the context of tangible property should apply. In turn, two foundational questions must be answered. First, what is the subject-matter of the property right in cryptoassets? And secondly, what is the proprietary effect of a blockchain transaction? These issues have received relatively little attention in the literature, which has focused on whether cryptoassets are property at all, and existing contributions (including the Law Commission’s recent Consultation Paper on Digital Assets) which do engage these issues are far from reaching consensus. This paper critically examines those views and puts forward its own reasoned approach for the application of traditional rules of title to cryptoassets.  \nKeywords: property and trusts; digital assets; cryptoassets  \nIntroduction  \nThere has been much discussion in recent years over the question of whether cryptoassets 1 constitute property for the purpose of the common law, which has important implications for whether such assets can be held on trust, devolve by will, and vest on bankruptcy or insolvency. It has generally been answered in the affirmative by various Commonwealth courts (recognising that cryptoassets can be held on trust2 and are susceptible to interlocutory proprietary injunctions),3 the Law Commission4 (largely affirming the earlier view of the UK Jurisdictional Taskforce),5 and various  \n†The author is deeply grateful to Professor Michael Bridge, Professor David Fox, Ms Tracy Gani, Professor Kelvin Low, Professor James Penner, Mr Tan Weiming, Mr Benjamin Wong and the anonymous reviewers for their comments on earlier versions of this paper. A version of this paper was presented at a research workshop at the National University of Singapore on 19 October 2022, and the author would like to thank the organisers and participants for their helpful feedback.  \n1This term is used to embrace assets styled as ‘cryptocurrencies’ (such as Bitcoin and Ethereum), sub-tokens, and so-called non-fungible tokens (NFTs). See for a similar usage M Bridge et al (eds) The Law of Personal Property (London: Sweet and Maxwell, 3rd edn, 2022) ch 8 .  \n2Ruscoe v Cryptopia Ltd (in liq) [2020] 2 NZLR 809; B2C2 Ltd v Quoine Pte Ltd [2019] 4 SLR 17 .  \n3Sally Jane Danisz v Persons Unknown and Others [2022] EWHC 280 (QB), AA v Persons Unknown [2019] EWHC 3556 (Comm) (England); Chen v Blockchain Global Ltd [2022] VSC 92 (Australia); CLM v CLN and Others [2022] SGHC 46 (Singapore); Yan Yu Ying v Leung Wing Hei [2021] HKCFI 3160 (Hong Kong) .  \n4Law Commission Consultation Paper on Digital Assets Law Com No 256, 28 July 2022 .  \n5UK Jurisdictional Taskforce Legal Statement on Cryptoassets and Smart Contracts, November 2019 .  \n© The Author(s), 2023 . Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Society of Legal Scholars. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence ([https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution and reproduction, provided the original article is properly cited.  \nLegal Studies 481  \nlegal scholars.6 Ye","cbCaikMiFTN2IKLZ","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaikMiFTN2IKLZ","pdf",275443,"English","# Introduction\n## Foundational questions on property rights and blockchain transactions\n## Title passing and consequences for proprietary claims","[{\"question\":\"Why do proprietary disputes about cryptoassets require more than traditional contract, tort, or trust principles?\",\"answer\":\"Even when cryptoassets are generally accepted as property, proprietary issues raise conundrums that require a robust explanation for applying traditional title rules originally developed for tangible property.\"},{\"question\":\"What two foundational questions does the paper focus on?\",\"answer\":\"It asks (1) what the subject-matter of the property right in cryptoassets is, and (2) what the proprietary effect of a blockchain transaction is, including when and how title passes.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the outcome affect actions in cases of unauthorised misappropriation of Bitcoins?\",\"answer\":\"Whether legal and/or equitable title has passed determines whether the claimant can vindicate proprietary rights, reverse unjust enrichment, and/or mount an equitable claim via a constructive trust doctrine.\"}]","The nature of property in cryptoassets | PDF",48]