Qualification of Cryptocurrencies in Private Law on the Example of China, Germany and the United Kingdom

Abstract

In Polish private law, there are different positions regarding the legal qualification of cryptocurrency units. The issue is of both theoretical and practical importance, as it affects the regulations that may be applied to them. And the views range from assumption that cryptocurrencies are a part of property of a person entitled only as a claim, through the position that their holders have absolute property rights to such goods derived from the analogous application of the provisions on things, to i.a. position that cryptocurrency is not a component of property, but having a specific public address and a private key that allows the use of cryptocurrency constitutes a favorable factual situation with a measurable property value and may be recognized as a component of property. However, the comments made so far are usually devoid of a comparative legal perspective. This article aims to partially fill this gap by looking at the solutions proposed or adopted in different legal orders: Chinese, German, and British (English, Welsh, and Scottish). The result of the conducted considerations is the conclusion that the problem with the qualification of cryptocurrencies occurs not only in Polish law, and its resolution in favor of the assumption that their holders may have absolute property rights to them, which seems to be generally the right direction, and at the same time the one gaining ground in various countries, requires the intervention of the legislator.