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Law Journal of the National Academy of Internal Affairs

  • Received 10.06.2025,
  • Revised 01.09.2025,
  • Accepted 29.09.2025
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Volume 15, No. 3, 2025
  • custody services; virtual asset; tokens; blockchain; transactions
  • https://doi.org/10.63341/naia-chasopis/3.2025.92
  • Pages 92-107

The study aimed to provide a comprehensive analysis of the legal nature of digital objects as a new type of civil rights object and to develop the theoretical framework for their effective legal regulation in the context of the digital transformation of society. The methodological basis of the study was the comparative legal method for analysing approaches to the regulation of digital objects in the legal systems of China, Switzerland, Germany, Japan, Singapore and the USA, the formal legal method for studying current Ukrainian legislation, and the systemic analysis for studying digital objects as a complex phenomenon. The study established that digital objects are a unique legal phenomenon which does not fully fit into classical civil law constructs and requires a special legal regime. The study revealed the fragmented and contradictory nature of Ukrainian legal regulation, in particular, systemic conflicts between the general property regime of a digital object in the Civil Code of Ukraine and the special regime of a virtual asset in the relevant law. The study proved the problematic nature of applying the legal fiction of extending property rights to intangible objects, which creates legal uncertainty and complicates law enforcement. An analysis of court practice has revealed practical difficulties in applying the current legislation, in particular when seizing cryptocurrencies as material evidence in criminal proceedings. The study substantiated the need to revise the approach by abandoning the fiction of a digital object and creating an independent category of digital assets with a special legal regime. The practical value of the study is determined by the creation of a theoretical basis for improving the legal regulation of digital objects and the possibility of using the results in lawmaking, law enforcement practice and further research

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