IECL Lunchtime Seminar with Arianna Abitante – A Critical Perspective of the Evolution of Proprietary Interests in Crypto Assets

The IECL Lunchtime Seminar Series offers our Academic Visitors an opportunity to share their research, exchange ideas, and connect with colleagues on both substantive and methodological aspects of their work. 

Each seminar usually lasts 30–45 minutes, with 20–30 minutes for the presentation followed by 10–15 minutes for Q&A. A light sandwich lunch will be provided.

Arianna Abitante
A Critical Perspective of the Evolution of Proprietary Interests in Crypto Assets

Abstract: In the last decade, crypto assets and digitalisation have sparked new decentralised social and commercial interactions, through which intangible goods are exchanged. As courts and legislators grapple with the effects of the technology, questions on the optimal regulatory framework have become central. Consequently, interest in crypto assets and the underlying technology has surged across various disciplines.

This seminar is about crypto assets as seen through the lenses of property law. Its scope lies in detecting the changes undergone in contemporary property law, with regard to these novel objects of value. In continental legal traditions, property is private and traditionally conceived as the foundation for market-based transactions, as opposed to state regulation. However, proprietary interests in crypto assets seem to challenge pure private notions of property.

This seminar therefore argues for a modern notion of property, to set the stage for an analysis on how different levels of law-making influence the nature of property rights in crypto assets, and which normative implications may follow.