The Legal Nature of Digital Collectibles and the Adaptive Challenges of the Civil Law Property System

Zefan Jiang
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Zefan Jiang: Hefei University, China

Current Research in Law & Practice, 2025, vol. 3, issue 1, 55-70

Abstract: This paper explores the evolving legal nature of digital collectibles, particularly non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and the systemic challenges they pose to civil law property regimes. Within civil law traditions, the concept of property is bound by codified categories and the principle of numerus clausus, which restricts recognition to a limited set of property forms. Digital collectibles, by contrast, are decentralized, programmable, and technologically mediated, defying conventional classifications such as tangible movables or intangible rights. This disconnect generates uncertainty regarding their ownership, transferability, inheritance, and enforceability under traditional legal frameworks. The analysis addresses how digital assets undermine the foundational assumptions of possession, registration, and state-backed enforcement. Particular attention is given to the problems of inheritance continuity, token fragmentation, cross-border legal conflicts, and the role of private key control in lieu of legal title. Drawing from emerging theoretical debates and comparative jurisprudence, the paper proposes a trajectory of adaptive legal reform that includes doctrinal reinterpretation, statutory innovation, and the development of interoperable legal-technical standards. The study concludes that civil law systems must reconceptualize the legal object and embrace a pluralistic approach to digital property to ensure institutional relevance in the era of algorithmic ownership.

Keywords: digital collectibles; NFTs; civil law property; numerus clausus; legal object; smart contracts (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ctz:curilp:v:3:y:2025:i:1:p:55-70

DOI: 10.53104/curr.res.law.pract.2025.07005

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