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09 February 2024 / Sam Healey
Issue: 8058 / Categories: Features , Profession , Crypto , Cybercrime , Cyber
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Crypto law: not clear cut?

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Sam Healey explores the legal liabilities of crypto platforms in digital transactions
  • Cryptocurrencies present a range of challenges, including jurisdictional issues and identifying wrongdoers and liability.
  • Crypto platforms must comply with anti–money laundering (AML) regulations and be registered with the FCA. But more legal clarity is needed.

In the rapidly evolving world of cryptocurrencies, questions of legality and responsibility are beginning to take centre stage. One of the most prominent among these concerns is the liability of cryptocurrency platforms when investors are scammed or their cryptoassets are stolen.

To shed light on this topic, we must first outline the duties and responsibilities these platforms bear, and explain what rights and avenues for recompense an investor might have in the aftermath of a scam that targets digital assets.

Cryptoasset exchange providers are virtual spaces where users can trade, hold or sell their cryptoassets. They are similar to traditional financial institutions in some aspects, although distinct in operation given the nature of how the business takes place. So the question of liability when cryptoassets are stolen or when a scam takes

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NEWS
Talk of a reserved ‘Welsh seat’ on the Supreme Court is misplaced. In NLJ this week, Professor Graham Zellick KC explains that the Constitutional Reform Act treats ‘England and Wales’ as one jurisdiction, with no statutory Welsh slot
The government’s plan to curb jury trials has sparked ‘jury furore’. Writing in NLJ this week, David Locke, partner at Hill Dickinson, says the rationale is ‘grossly inadequate’
A year after the $1.5bn Bybit heist, crypto fraud is booming—but so is recovery. Writing in NLJ this week, Neil Holloway, founder and CEO of M2 Recovery, warns that scams hit at least $14bn in 2025, fuelled by ‘pig butchering’ cons and AI deepfakes
After Woodcock confirmed no general duty to warn, debate turns to the criminal law. Writing in NLJ this week, Charles Davey of The Barrister Group urges revival of misprision or a modern equivalent
Family courts are tightening control of expert evidence. Writing in NLJ this week, Dr Chris Pamplin says there is ‘no automatic right’ to call experts; attendance must be ‘necessary in the interests of justice’ under FPR Pt 25
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