New act gives digital assets legal status in Scots law
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The Digital Assets (Scotland) Act 2026 establishes digital assets such as cryptocurrencies as recognised property under Scots law, providing legal certainty for transactions, lending and insolvency. In a new analysis, David Fox, professor of common law at the University of Edinburgh, says the legislation is intended to support Scotland’s growing blockchain sector by setting out how digital assets are owned, transferred and protected within the country’s property law framework.
“The 2026 Act provides “a foundational legislative building block” to support the blockchain tech markets in Scotland, which have been estimated to reach a value of £4.48 billion by 2030. The main advance made by the 2026 Act is to confirm the status of digital assets in Scots private law and define some of the foundational rules governing digital asset transactions in private law. These are assumed in the background of all digital asset transactions. They determine, for example, whether the assets can serve as collateral for commercial lending and whether claims relating to digital assets would be prioritised in insolvency. Without recognition as private property, many digital asset transactions would simply fall into a legal void, regardless of their value.”
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