The publication of the Digital Dispute Resolution Rules in April 2021

In April 2021, a taskforce established by UK government and formed of legal and industry experts published a set of digital dispute resolution rules, which are intended to provide a mechanism for the rapid and cost effective resolution of disputes arising from novel digital technologies such as cryptoassets. The UK Jurisdiction Taskforce The UK Jurisdiction Taskforce (‘UKJT’) is a taskforce of the LawTech Delivery Panel, and is a team of technology and legal industry experts and leading figures from UK government and the judiciary....

May 4, 2021 · 5 min

A timeline of key UK regulatory developments relating to cryptoassets

This article summarises key developments since 2017 in the approach to cryptoassets of the Financial Conduct Authority (‘FCA’) and other UK regulatory stakeholders. 2017 April 2017: FCA Discussion Paper on distributed ledger technology (‘DP17/3’) The FCA publishes a discussion paper with the aim of starting a dialogue on the potential for the future development of the distributed ledger technology (‘DLT’) markets it regulates, and to explore where the balance of risks and opportunities lie in relation to DLT....

April 29, 2021 · 12 min

Ion Science Ltd and Duncan Johns v Persons Unknown, Binance Holdings Limited and Payward Limited – unreported, 21 December 2020

In Ion Science Ltd and Duncan Johns, the applicants sought interim remedies in respect to the misappropriation by ‘persons unknown’ of 64.35 Bitcoin (converted from approximately 577,002 GBP). The director of Ion Science Ltd, Mr Duncan Johns, claimed that a fictitious Swiss company known as Neo Capital induced him to transfer the misappropriated Bitcoin on the basis he would receive profits of at least 15 million GBP, through the purchase of initial coin offerings (ICOs) of cryptocurrencies known as Uvexo and Oileum....

April 29, 2021 · 4 min

Enforcement of money orders in relation to cryptoassets

The methods of enforcing a money judgment of the court include taking control of goods (bailiffs), a charging order, a third party debt order, and an attachment of earnings order. In relation to cryptoassets of a judgment debtor, these methods are not available. Equitable execution A lesser-known method of enforcing money judgments is by equitable execution. In this type of application, the court has the power to make broad, wide-ranging orders....

April 25, 2021 · 3 min