The United Kingdom has officially written crypto into its legal framework as a distinct form of property. On Tuesday, the Property (Digital Assets etc.) Act 2025 received Royal Assent from King Charles III, completing its passage through Parliament and creating a third, legally recognized category of property specifically for digital assets. The act passed both houses without amendment.
The new classification places assets such as bitcoin, stablecoins and NFTs into a bucket separate from traditional 'things in possession,' like physical objects, or 'things in action,' like contractual rights. Policymakers say the reform was needed to modernize property law for the digital era.
'A third category of property now exists, and it finally gives legal protection to the sats you hold,' said Susie Ward, CEO of Bitcoin Policy UK. Her group's Chief Policy Officer, Freddie New, called the act potentially 'the biggest change in English property law since the Middle Ages.'
The reform stems from a 2023 recommendation by the Law Commission, which argued that digital assets did not fit neatly into existing legal categories. The bill was introduced in the House of Lords in September 2024 before moving swiftly through Parliament. While U.K. courts had already been treating crypto as property in rulings over the past several years, the approach relied on case-by-case judgments.
Crypto's 'clearer legal' footing
Trade association CryptoUK said codifying the principle in statute offers much clearer legal pathways in matters involving theft, fraud, insolvency and estate planning. 'This gives digital assets a much clearer legal footing — especially for things like proving ownership, recovering stolen assets, and handling them in insolvency or estate cases,' CryptoUK said in a statement on X.
Lawmakers also framed the legislation as a boost to consumer and investor protection. 'By recognizing digital assets in law, the U.K. is giving consumers clear ownership rights, stronger protections, and the ability to recover assets lost through theft or fraud,' Gurinder Singh Josan, co-chair of the Crypto and Digital Assets All Party Parliamentary Group, told CoinDesk. The Royal Assent was formally announced in the House of Lords around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, marking the moment the bill became law.
UK's bitcoin ETN ban lift
Earlier this year, the U.K. lifted its four-year ban on retail access to bitcoin and crypto ETNs, allowing firms to offer the products on FCA-approved exchanges. After the ban, BlackRock then launched its fully backed iShares Bitcoin ETP (IB1T) on the London Stock Exchange. Meanwhile, the UK government is reportedly weighing a ban on crypto donations to political parties as it drafts its upcoming Elections Bill, according to people familiar with internal discussions and POLITICO reporting. The move would directly affect Nigel Farage's Reform UK, which became the first British party to accept digital asset donations and has already received several.