Digital assets, cryptocurrency and blockchain
Digital assets built on blockchain or distributed ledger technologies - including cryptocurrencies, NFTs and initial coin offerings - offer huge opportunities for business innovation and product development. At the same time, there are significant legal and regulatory considerations around their creation and use.
We bring our outstanding corporate, capital markets and regulatory knowledge and expertise together with our deep understanding of the technology and business landscapes.
We advise on legal issues around digital assets, and the application of the complex matrix of regulations around the issuance, custody, settlement, and secondary market trading of digital assets.
Our team includes market-leading specialists in corporate, M&A, IP, payments, e-money, capital markets and derivatives, banking, and financial services.
We bring global and cross-sector expertise together with our deep understanding of the technology and business landscapes to provide strategic advice across:
- Fundraising, M&A and joint ventures
- New product and platform development
- Issuance, custody, settlement, and secondary market trading of digital assets
- Financial instruments linked to digital assets
- Regulatory characterisation, registrations and wider regulatory engagement
- Litigation and investigations
Here, we will keep you up to date with all the key developments in digital assets.
Fundamentals of digital assets
Digital assets podcasts
Digital asset regulation around the world
Europe
- Inside the EU’s ground-breaking law to regulate crypto-assets (December 2022)
- The European Parliament adopts NIS2 and DORA proposals (November 2022)
- ECB strives towards greater consistency in approach to licensing of crypto-asset activities (September 2022)
United Kingdom
- Webinar: Crypto Regulation in the UK - the Grand Unveiling (March 2023)
- Webinar: Will EU and UK Fintech Regulation stay aligned? (November 2022)
- Podcast: Will changes to advertising rules end the UK retail crypto bubble? (June 2022)
- Webinar: The evolving UK cryptoasset regulatory landscape (February 2021)
- HM Treasury’s consultation on a proposed UK regulatory framework for stable tokens (January 2021)
Middle East
- The developing cryptoasset landscape in the UAE podcast: Spotlight on the regulation of cryptoassets (June 2022)
- The developing cryptoasset landscape in the UAE podcast: Spotlight on distributed ledger technology (July 2022)
- The developing cryptoasset landscape in the UAE podcast: Spotlight on consumer protection and data privacy (September 2022)
United States
- Federal banking regulators issue joint statement on crypto-asset risks to banking organizations (January 2023)
- Crypto M&A: Current trends and unique legal and regulatory considerations (November 2022)
- Bridging the digital divide in emerging markets (November 2022)
Asia Pacific
Latest developments in digital assets, cryptocurrency and blockchain

Publications: 07 March 2023
Webinar: Crypto Regulation in the UK - the Grand Unveiling
Last month, the UK’s long awaited consultation on extending financial services licensing to a wider range of cryptoasset activities was published.

News: 31 January 2023
Allen & Overy advised international bank Standard Chartered on entering into a joint venture with big German banks to fund the blockchain platform SWIAT.

Publications: 19 January 2023
Episode 4: Deconstructing Crypto - The Post-FTX Episode
Following the indictments of senior FTX executives, two guilty pleas and related enforcement actions by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the…

Publications: 21 December 2022
Inside the EU’s ground-breaking law to regulate crypto-assets
The MiCA Proposal explained - at a glance
Subscribe to our podcasts and blog

Digital Hub
Digital Hub is our blog dedicated to everything 'digital', featuring views and commentary from members of Allen & Overy’s international team.
Read more
Digitalisation podcasts
This series of podcasts is designed to help you navigate through the fast-moving legal issues triggered by disruptive technologies and transformation.
Read more