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Helen Pugh published in JIBFL – Crypto fraud and the bona fide purchaser for value defence

Read Helen Pugh’s latest article in Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law on Crypto fraud and the bona fide purchaser for value defence.

Helen Pugh was recently published in the January 2023 edition of JBIFL where she considered the fundamental issue of the application of the bona fide purchaser for value defences to crypto transactions tainted by fraud.

The key issue for 2023/24

The courts of England and Wales have repeatedly recognised that at least some digital assets can be a type of property for the purposes of granting a claimant proprietary and freezing injunctions and for the purpose of the jurisdictional gateways. As these early claims proceed through the courts, the focus needs to turn to a defendant’s ability to rely on the bona fide purchaser for value defence and what this means in the context of cryptocurrency transactions.

Property defences

Helen discusses the bona fide purchaser defence in the context of ‘hacks’ and how this differs from the defence in the context of ‘deceit’ claims. She reviews the proposal in the Law Commission’s Paper on Digital Assets to extend the common law bona fide purchaser for value defence to transfers of cryptocurrency and explains the unique problems for victims of crypto fraud in dealing with a bona fide purchaser defence. To ensure victims of cryptocurrency fraud are protected, the defence must be adapted to reflect the realities of the blockchain’s pseudonymity.

JIBFL; Crypto fraud and the bona fide purchaser for value defence

Read the full article published in Butterworths here.

This article was first published in the January issue of Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law.

Find out more about Butterworths Journal of International Banking & Financial Law here.

Find out more

Helen has a busy commercial and civil fraud practice, much of which has a cross-border element. She has a particular interest in disputes involving cryptocurrencies and digital assets and is one of a small number at the Bar with case experience in this area. She is on the committee of the Tech Disputes Network, the pre-eminent forum for legal professionals working in the field of crypto and digital assets.

To instruct Helen or to find out more please contact Matt Sale  on +44 (0)20 7427 4910 or Peter Foad on +44 (0)20 7427 0807.

External Publications 13 Feb, 2023

Authors

Helen Pugh

Call: 2008

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