In the first two instalments of our series we examined the progress of English law to provide a secure and certain legal infrastructure for cryptoasset investment and management. In particular, we looked at how recent English case law has addressed the following questions:

(1) Are cryptoassets property and (2) Can cryptoassets be held on trust? (see Part 1 here)  (3) Where are cryptoassets located for the purposes of securing jurisdiction over claims and remedies? (see Part 2 here).

In this third (and final) part of the series, we preview potential legal initiatives which are designed to continue building the legal infrastructure for digital assets in the UK, including initiatives such as the UK Law Commission’s Digital Assets Project and the UK Jurisdictional Taskforce’s (UKJT) Digital Dispute Resolution Rules. Read the third part of the series on our Blockchain and the Law blog.

Photo of Steven Baker Steven Baker

Steven Baker is a partner in the Litigation department and a member of the International Arbitration group. He has over 25 years of experience advising clients on complex, often multi-jurisdictional disputes in a wide range of industries, including asset management, technology, life sciences…

Steven Baker is a partner in the Litigation department and a member of the International Arbitration group. He has over 25 years of experience advising clients on complex, often multi-jurisdictional disputes in a wide range of industries, including asset management, technology, life sciences, financial services and defence sectors. He also has extensive experience advising upon and managing disputes for clients involving major technology or telecommunications projects and their financing, technology licensing and misappropriation of trade secrets.

Steven is ranked as a leading litigator for banking and financial services litigation in both Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners, who comment that “Steven is a tremendous litigator – he is very clever and efficient and handles multiple clients well” as well as being ”very thoughtful, very into the detail, but equally takes a very commercial stance”, “Very good at running complex commercial disputes, very bright and a pleasure to deal with” and “has a really good grasp of complex banking litigation.” He was named by Benchmark Litigation as its inaugural “UK Lawyer of the Year” in 2019 as well as a National Litigation Star (2019-2021). He was also designated a  Client Services All-Star by the BTI Consulting Group, which selects lawyers who “deliver outstanding legal skills and superior client services” based on interviews with legal corporate counsel at the world’s leading organizations.

Steven lectures on dispute resolution-related matters, including on the M. Sc. Major Projects course at Said Business School, University of Oxford. He is also the co-author of a leading publication on technology disputes entitled, “IT Contracts and Dispute Management: A Practitioner’s Guide to the Project Lifecycle”, a second edition having been commissioned.

Photo of Julia Bihary Julia Bihary

Julia Bihary is an associate in the Litigation Department with a focus on complex commercial litigation, arbitration, private wealth, trusts and charities disputes.

Her recent experience includes advising corporate clients, high-net-worth individuals, fund managers and charities in a variety of disputes including international…

Julia Bihary is an associate in the Litigation Department with a focus on complex commercial litigation, arbitration, private wealth, trusts and charities disputes.

Her recent experience includes advising corporate clients, high-net-worth individuals, fund managers and charities in a variety of disputes including international arbitrations, commercial, contractual and professional negligence disputes.

Julia is a solicitor advocate with Higher Rights of Audience.

She is fluent in English, Hungarian and German.