The opinions expressed here are those of the authors. They do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of UK Finance or its members.

The developments bring forward new considerations for businesses that develop, own and use such assets, as well as for those finance providers that support those businesses.

In March, the English High Court ruled in Ping Fai Yuen v Fun Yung Li (Yuen v Li & Anor [2026] EWHC 532 (KB) (10 March 2026) that key traditional remedies do not apply to the new “third category” of digital assets recognised by the Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2025 laying bare the gaps that remain in English law relating to crypto-assets. The UK Jurisdiction Taskforce (UKJT) also published guidance on control of digital assets in March - and most recently the UK government’s Wholesale Digital Markets Champion published his first report, focusing on tokenisation.

The Ping decision has been debated because control of a digital asset can resemble possession of a physical item, which implied that the conversion and trespass remedies applicable to physical ‘choses in possession’ might then apply.  This decision found otherwise, however, with those deprived of digital assets instead having to rely on other claims, including unjust enrichment, breach of confidence, misuse of private information and causing loss by unlawful means.

Meanwhile, in Scotland the Digital Assets (Scotland) Act 2026 came into force on 1 July - and it seems likely that Scottish proprietary remedies will be available following the Act, in addition to those surviving Ping in England. The Act clarifies that the controller of a digital asset is assumed to own it in Scotland and that ownership passes with control It then sets out a definition of control based around the loss (and gain) of the ability to initiate transfer transactions within a relevant electronic system. The UKJT’s report provides more detailed analysis of control, but suggests no specific legal rules and it will be interesting to see the effect the report may have on interpretation of the Scottish Act.

The wholesale digital markets report focusses on ensuring the UK wholesale financial markets are in a position to take full competitive advantage of technological change by enabling tokenisation and the trading of tokenised assets.  Here both the 2025 Act in England and the 2026 Act in Scotland will have a role to play – particularly on transfer and collateral issues, in conjunction with the possible development of control and other principles contained in the Financial Collateral Arrangements (No. 2) Regulations 2023.

Further change is expected as new UK regulatory regimes start taking effect in the autumn. The legal landscape and its consistency north and south of the border will continue to be an important part of further emerging developments – along, increasingly, with resolving broader international conundrums on which countries’ laws apply and courts have jurisdiction in relation to digital assets.