News & Events
News & Events
Helen Pugh has been published in the April 2026 edition of Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law on “Not your key, not your coin”: the private key and ownership. Ownership, possession and control of an asset have long been intertwined in the public’s consciousness. Albeit implicitly recognising that a possessory title can be displaced by a superior legal title, the old adage “possession is nine-tenths of the law” remains a popular refrain carrying more than a grain of truth. Following a series of high-profile collapses of crypto custodians in “the crypto winter”, a digital equivalent has emerged: “not your key, not your coin”. In this article, Helen considers the private key and its role in legal analysis of…
External Publications, News 20 Apr, 2026
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…
External Publications 13 Feb, 2023
