Digital Assets in Enforcement and Insolvency: Securing Creditor Access and Protecting Customer Interests in the Crypto World

This book offers the first comprehensive analysis of the national and international legal issues surrounding digital assets in enforcement and insolvency.

Its primary aim is to ensure that the economic value of digital assets can be fully realised by creditors and other stakeholders through the legal processes and remedies available to them, and that holders of digital assets receive adequate protection. These legal issues are considered in diverse commercial and technical contexts, ranging from native cryptocurrencies to token, whether held directly or with custodians and other intermediaries.

The book offers analysis on different levels: Firstly, it scrutinises the existing legal frameworks for enforcement and insolvency in various countries and evaluates the extent to which they can accommodate digital forms of value; secondly, it compares the approaches taken in different jurisdictions and addresses the cross-border issues of jurisdiction and conflict of laws issues that may arise; and thirdly, it focuses on international texts, such as the UNIDROIT Principles on Digital Assets and Private Law, as well as the Global Code of Digital Enforcement, and suggested avenues for further harmonisation and unification of the law.

The book provides much-needed responses to the increasing significance of digital assets in modern insolvency and enforcement proceedings. It takes a unique global approach to a wide range of legal perspectives, drawing upon the contributors’ experience as leading practitioners, representatives of international organisations, and academics, in common law and civil law jurisdictions around the world. The book identifies the most pressing areas for law reform, and proposes solutions that are both legally robust as well as fit for practical purpose.

Matthias Lehmann is Professor of Private Law, International Private Law and Comparative Law at the University of Vienna, Austria and Professor of European and Comparative Business Law at Radboud University Nijmegen, the Netherlands.
Christian Koller is Professor of European and International Civil Procedure Law and Vice-Dean of the Law Faculty at the University of Vienna, Austria.