make provision about the types of things that are not prevented from being objects of personal property rights.
The Property (Digital Assets etc) Bill [HL] is a Government Bill tabled by a Minister of the Crown.
Is this Bill currently before Parliament?Yes. This Bill was introduced on 11 September 2024 and is currently before Parliament.
Whose idea is this Bill?Government Bills implement the legislative agenda of the Government. This agenda, and the Bills that will implement it, are outlined in the Queen's Speech at the Session's State Opening of Parliament.
What type of Bill is this?Government Bills are technically Presentation Bills, but the Government can use its legislative time to ensure the schedule of debates to scrutinise the Bill.
So is this going to become a law?Though the Bill can be amended from its original form, the Bill will almost certainly be enacted in law before the end of the Session, or will be carried over to the subsequent Session.
How can I find out exactly what this Bill does?The most straightforward information is contained in the initial Explanatory Notes for the Bill.
Would you like to know more?See these Glossary articles for more information: Government Bills, Process of a Bill
Official Bill Page Initial Explanatory Notes Initial Briefing papers Ministerial Extracts from Debates All Bill Debates
Next Event: There is no future stage currently scheduled for this bill
Last Event: Wednesday 16th July 2025 - 2nd reading (Commons)
Bill Progession through Parliament
1
Lord Holmes of Richmond (Con)Clause 1, page 1, line 5, leave out “a thing in” and insert “capable of”
<p>This amendment, connected to another in the name of Lord Holmes of Richmond, seeks to provide a statutory basis for recognising digital assets as property, while removing any presumption that these assets cannot be accommodated by the existing two categories of personal property rights.</p>
2
Lord Holmes of Richmond (Con)Clause 1, page 1, line 6, leave out paragraph (b) and insert—<br> “(b) a right that may only be claimed or enforced by legal action or proceedings against another person or persons.”
<p>This amendment, connected to another in the name of Lord Holmes of Richmond, seeks to provide a statutory basis for recognising digital assets as property, while removing any presumption that these assets cannot be accommodated by the existing two categories of personal property rights.</p>
3
Lord Holmes of Richmond (Con)After Clause 1, insert the following new Clause—<br> <b>“Codes of practice on attributes of digital assets conferring property rights</b><br> (1) On the day on which this Act is passed, the Secretary of State must publish codes of practice on the attributes of digital things which confer personal property rights.<br> (2) In reaching any judgment on whether a digital asset is the object of personal property rights, the courts of England and Wales and Northern Ireland must have regard to the codes of practice published under subsection (1).”
<p>This amendment seeks to ensure the Secretary of State publishes guidance which must be considered by the courts when determining whether digital things can be the object of personal property rights.</p>
4
Lord Holmes of Richmond (Con)After Clause 1, insert the following new Clause—<br> <b>“Review: impact of digital assets being treated as property by virtue of this Act</b><br> (1) On the day on which this Act is passed, the Secretary of State must publish an economic impact assessment of digital assets being treated as property by virtue of this Act.<br> (2) The impact assessment under subsection (1) must include, but is not limited to—<br> (a) the estimated change in demand for, and use of, digital assets and the impact of this on data centre power usage, and<br> (b) the current level of data centre provision and its ability to meet any increase in demand for digital assets.”
5
Lord Holmes of Richmond (Con)After Clause 1, insert the following new Clause—<br> <b>“Review: impact of digital assets being treated as property by virtue of this Act on any need for regulation</b><br> Within six months of the day on which this Act is passed, the Secretary of State must conduct a review on any need for further regulation of stablecoins and tokenised deposits due to any such digital assets being treated as property by virtue of this Act.”
6
Lord Holmes of Richmond (Con)Title, line 1, leave out “capable of” and insert “not prevented from”
<p>This amendment seeks to restate the long title more clearly, so that it is consistent with the operative Clause of the Bill.</p>
None
Lord Holmes of Richmond (Con)Clause 1, page 1, line 5, leave out “a thing in” and insert “capable of"
None
Lord Holmes of Richmond (Con)Clause 1, page 1, line 6, leave out paragraph (b) and insert- "(b) a right that may only be claimed or enforced by legal action or proceedings against another person or persons.”
None
Lord Holmes of Richmond (Con)After Clause 1, insert the following new Clause- "Codes of practice on attributes of digital assets conferring property rights (1) On the day on which this Act is passed, the Secretary of State must publish codes of practice on the attributes of digital things which confer personal property rights. (2) In reaching any judgment on whether a digital asset is the object of personal property rights, the courts of England and Wales and Northern Ireland must have regard to the codes of practice published under subsection (1).”
None
Lord Holmes of Richmond (Con)After Clause 1, insert the following new Clause- “Review: impact of digital assets being treated as property by virtue of this Act (1) On the day on which this Act is passed, the Secretary of State must publish an economic impact assessment of digital assets being treated as property by virtue of this Act. (2) The impact assessment under subsection (1) must include, but is not limited to – (a) the estimated change in demand for, and use of, digital assets and the impact of this on data centre power usage, and (b) the current level of data centre provision and its ability to meet any increase in demand for digital assets."
None
Lord Holmes of Richmond (Con)After Clause 1, insert the following new Clause- "Review: impact of digital assets being treated as property by virtue of this Act on any need for regulation Within six months of the day on which this Act is passed, the Secretary of State must conduct a review on any need for further regulation of stablecoins and tokenised deposits due to any such digital assets being treated as property by virtue of this Act."
None
Lord Holmes of Richmond (Con)Title, line 1, leave out “capable of” and insert “not prevented from"
6
Lord Holmes of Richmond (Con)After Clause 1, insert the following new Clause—<br> <b>“Review: impact of any digital assets being treated as property by virtue of this Act</b><br> (1) Within six months of the day on which this Act is passed, the Secretary of State must lay before both Houses of Parliament a review analysing the impacts of this Act.<br> (2) The review made under subsection (1) must include analysis of the impact of any digital assets being treated as property by virtue of this Act on—<br> (a) data centre power usage in relation to digital assets,<br> (b) the need for data centre construction and expansion,<br> (c) the viability of creating a government digital sovereign gilt,<br> (d) the desirability of establishing an objective for the National Wealth Fund relating to tokenisation opportunities,<br> (e) the need for further regulation of stablecoins and tokenised deposits,<br> (f) the need for international interoperability standards for digital bonds, and<br> (g) the need for a review of the tax regime to assess how it interacts with digital assets.”
1
Lord Anderson of Ipswich (XB)Clause 1, page 1, line 2, leave out from first “thing” to second “is”
<p>This probing amendment seeks to remove the parenthetical reference to “digital or electronic” things.</p>
2
Lord Anderson of Ipswich (XB)Clause 1, page 1, line 2, at end insert “and has never been”
<p>This probing amendment seeks to give the Bill retrospective effect.</p>
3
Lord Anderson of Ipswich (XB)Clause 1, page 1, line 5, leave out “a thing in” and insert “capable of”
<p>This probing amendment, connected to another in the name of Lord Anderson of Ipswich, seeks to provide a statutory basis for recognising digital assets as property, while removing any presumption that these assets cannot be accommodated by the existing two categories of personal property rights.</p>
4
Lord Anderson of Ipswich (XB)Clause 1, page 1, line 6, leave out paragraph (b) and insert—<br> “(b) a right that may only be claimed or enforced by legal action or proceedings against another person or persons.”
<p>This probing amendment, connected to another in the name of Lord Anderson of Ipswich, seeks to provide a statutory basis for recognising digital assets as property, while removing any presumption that these assets cannot be accommodated by the existing two categories of personal property rights.</p>
5
Lord Anderson of Ipswich (XB)After Clause 1, insert the following new Clause—<br> <b>“Attributes of digital assets conferring property rights</b><br> In determining whether a digital thing can be the object of personal property rights, regard may be had to whether the thing—<br> (a) is composed of data represented in an electronic medium, including in the form of computer code, electronic, digital or analogue signals,<br> (b) exists independently of persons and exists independently of the legal system, and<br> (c) is rivalrous.”
<p>This probing amendment seeks to specify indicia that may be considered by the courts when determining whether digital things can be the object of personal property rights.</p>
8
Lord Anderson of Ipswich (XB)Clause 2, page 1, line 10, leave out “(Digital Assets etc)” and insert “(Objects of Personal Property Rights)”
<p>This probing amendment to the short title, connected to another in the name of Lord Anderson of Ipswich, seeks to restate the title of the Bill by removing reference to specific types of thing which the Bill applies to.</p>
9
Lord Anderson of Ipswich (XB)Title, line 1, after “provision” insert “(with retrospective effect)”
<p>This probing amendment, connected to another in the name of Lord Anderson of Ipswich, seeks to draw attention to the Bill’s retrospective effect, if amended.</p>
10
Lord Anderson of Ipswich (XB)Title, line 1, leave out “capable of” and insert “not prevented from”
<p>This probing amendment seeks to restate the long title more clearly, so that it is consistent with the operative clause of the Bill.</p>
7
Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede (Lab)Clause 2, page 1, line 8, leave out “only” and insert “and Northern Ireland”
<p>This amendment extends the territorial extent of the Bill so that it will form part of the law of Northern Ireland as well as that of England and Wales.</p>