CBFL Seminar Series: Digital Assets and the Conflict of Laws – In Search for the ‘Ideal Rule’ by Professor Matthias Lehmann

Professor Matthias Lehmann presented a seminar on 30 January 2024, with the Centre for Banking & Finance Law.

Which law governs private disputes over assets recorded on the blockchain, such as Bitcoin, Ether or stablecoins? This question has long eluded legal academia and practice. Now, states have begun to enact hard and fast rules. In this seminar, Professor Lehmann will compare legislative provisions and judicial rulings from the US, England, Germany, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein, as well as the recently adopted UNIDROIT Principles on Digital Assets and Private Law. His analysis shows a new emerging gulf in the conflict of laws because of the law governing blockchain assets being determined in different ways. This risks undermining even further the functioning of the crypto economy. That is why he suggest a novel approach. To this end, he distills from the various national and international approaches an ‘ideal’ conflict-of-laws rule, which can serve as a blueprint for national legislators and/or courts. The hope is that this may lead to more consensus around the world on the law governing digital assets. This is dearly needed if the blockchain is to fulfil its promise as a trusted storage of value, a catalyst of global commerce, and a means of furthering financial inclusion.