The Thing is one of the more mysterious characters in the Marvel universe. Seemingly agglomerated from giant cheese puffs, he is visibly less human than his Spandex-encased compadres. Similar ambiguity surrounds crypto assets. These are recognised as “things” by UK law. This means they exist beyond the fevered imaginings of crypto bros. But what kind of things are they, exactly?
The Law Commission, a statutory review body, posed that question in a consultation this week. The answers are crucial to the ownership rights of would-be investors. These not only matter if you dabble in cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin, currently trading at under half its peak value of almost $69,000. Stocks and bonds may eventually become digital assets, exploiting the purported advantages of distributed ledger technology.