On Wednesday, members of the UK Parliament's upper house expressed support for the country's proposed digital assets property bill during its second reading. The Lords Grand committee generally agreed that the bill would provide greater clarity on the legal treatment of cryptocurrency and represent a significant step forward for the UK, which has been actively promoting the use of crypto. Introduced in September, the bill was drafted by the independent Law Commission and aims to add a new category of 'thing' to the existing property categories to facilitate the resolution of crypto-related legal disputes.
Lord Frederick Ponsonby of Shulbrede stated that the bill would 'support our efforts to ensure that our jurisdiction remains at the forefront globally, providing a flexible legal framework that can adapt to the dynamic nature of digital assets and other emerging technologies.' The bill is expected to assist judges in cases involving crypto theft due to fraud or hacking, as well as in the division of marital property, according to Ponsonby. Lord Chris Holmes of Richmond described the bill as 'short in nature, but potentially extraordinarily significant in impact.' Baron Thomas of Cwmgiedd also emphasized the importance of the Law Commission's bill, calling it a 'critical change' that should be internationally competitive.
The UK has been actively working on regulating the crypto sector, having introduced legislation to treat crypto as a regulated activity last year. However, the new government's approach to crypto remains unclear, with Lord Ed Vaizey urging the government to evaluate the effectiveness of existing promotion rules and clarify its stance on crypto. In response, Ponsonby stated that the Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority are working on appropriate financial regulation of crypto assets. Economic Secretary Tulip Siddiq announced in October that the government is reviewing the previous government's crypto plans and will soon announce its policy program for crypto assets.