UK Legal Statement Clarifies Cryptocurrency and Smart Contracts

The United Kingdom Jurisdiction Taskforce of the Lawtech Delivery Panel (LTDP), has now published a binding statement confirming the legal classifications of digital currencies, as well as distributed ledger technology (DLT), and also smart contracts within it. According to the statement which is applicable under both English and Welsh law, cryptocurrencies qualify as “tradable property.”

UK Jurisdiction Taskforce chairman Sir Geoffrey Vos who is also the UK’s high court chancellor, has explained that the statement tries to clarify some of these supposedly obscure legal terms and tries to explain them as much as possible, without diluting its essence.

The taskforce is one of the panels under the LTDP which was specifically created to aid with the growth and all-round transformation of the UK’s legal space, especially as it relates to technology.

The statement also describes smart contracts as a very secure and efficient way to implement and…