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Founded in 2012, Signature Litigation has grown into one of London’s pre-eminent specialist dispute resolution practices. From the outset, we set out to do things differently: a conflict-free, disputes-only platform designed to give clients the undivided focus and strategic agility that complex, high-stakes matters demand.
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FIND OUT MOREKate Gee, Counsel, and Alasdair Marshall, Associate, examine the recent decision in Lavinia Deborah Osbourne v (1) Persons Unknown (2) Ozone Networks Inc. trading as Opensea in which NFTs were recognised as property. In a landmark ruling, the High Court recognised Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) as legal property over which a proprietary freezing injunction can be ordered. While courts have previously acknowledged cryptocurrencies as proprietary assets, this is the first time that NFTs have been treated in the same way. While not a surprising outcome, it will give comfort to NFT owners who will benefit from the additional legal protections (in an otherwise unregulated sector) this ruling gives them over their assets.
The NFTs in question were two unique digital artworks from the Boss Beauties series (a woman-led initiative using profits from NFTs to create opportunities for women), and were stolen from the Claimant’s digital wallet in January 2022. The Claimant was able to trace the NFTs to two separate wallets and appealed to the High Court to obtain an urgent injunction to freeze the assets. In orders made on 10 and 31 March 2022, the injunction was granted until the end of the proceedings.
The case is notable for several reasons:
On a practical level, the key takeaway is that owners who have their NFT misappropriated or otherwise compromised should immediately seek legal advice about how to regain a degree of control by seeking a freezing order over the NFT, to restrict dealings with the asset and to ensure that it’s still ‘available’ for enforcement at the end of legal proceedings. As these types of investment become more mainstream, and as fraud in this space continues to grow and to increase in sophistication, we anticipate that more claims involving cryptocurrencies and assets held on the blockchain will come through the English courts.
