How UK law now treats digital assets – and what it means for buying and selling property through Logica. Every purchase still completes in pounds, through standard conveyancing.
In December 2025, the Property (Digital Assets etc.) Act 2025 received Royal Assent, becoming law in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. It followed years of work by the Law Commission of England and Wales on how the law should treat digital tokens, non-fungible tokens and other digital holdings.
The Act confirms that digital assets can be the object of personal property rights – a distinct category of property alongside the two recognised for centuries: things you physically possess, and rights you can enforce, such as debts.
Being clear about the limits matters as much as the headline. The Act is a recognition of property rights – not a change to how property is bought, paid for or taxed.
A growing number of buyers hold part of their wealth in digital assets. Until recently, the legal status of those assets was uncertain, which made solicitors and lenders cautious. With the Act, that wealth now sits on a clear legal footing – recognised property, with verifiable ownership and origin.
That certainty is what lets a purchase funded from digital assets proceed through the ordinary conveyancing process, with the same checks and protections as any other sale.
Every purchase completes in pounds sterling. Where a buyer’s funds originate in digital assets, they are converted to GBP before completion – so the seller receives an ordinary cash purchase.
UK solicitors handle the transaction exactly as on any sale: AML checks, searches, exchange, and registration with HM Land Registry.
Conversion from digital assets to GBP, and the source-of-funds documentation behind it, is carried out by FCA-regulated firms. Logica works with these partners; it never touches funds and is not itself an FCA-regulated firm.
Beyond property law, the UK is bringing digital assets into financial regulation. From 2026 the Financial Conduct Authority is opening authorisation for firms that provide digital-asset activities – such as conversion, custody and dealing – with the regime taking full effect in 2027.
The significance isn't that digital assets “become legal”. It's that the infrastructure behind a purchase becomes regulated and standardised – which makes diligence simpler and more consistent for buyers, conveyancers, banks and compliance teams.
Logica operates alongside this framework – connecting buyers and agents – rather than performing any regulated activity itself. Conversion and compliance are handled by FCA-regulated partners; conveyancing is handled by solicitors.
HM Land Registry is modernising conveyancing itself – a Digital Identity Standard for conveyancers, electronic signatures, and a move towards a fully digital land register. Notably, the direction is to digitise the existing process, not to replace it with blockchain.
That matters for how Logica is built. We work alongside solicitors and the established property system, rather than requiring it to be rebuilt. Every purchase still completes the way HM Land Registry expects.
Regulated stablecoins are a useful example. Today, a buyer's assets are converted to GBP by an FCA-regulated partner. In the near term, the UK is developing rules for regulated, sterling-denominated stablecoins (the FCA and Bank of England are consulting, with sandbox testing under way). Longer term, regulated stablecoins and tokenised money may streamline settlement further. These are developments to watch – not features Logica relies on today.
This page is general information about UK law and regulation, not legal advice. For advice on a specific transaction, consult a qualified solicitor.
See how a purchase works end to end – from offer to a completed GBP sale.
