Digital assets: consumer contracts and the umbrella of digital content

As the digital economy continues to transform, blockchain based digital assets such as crypto assets, non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and other blockchain-based forms of digital property are emerging as novel stores of value, challenging traditional
notions of digital content. This article explores some of the challenges these digital assets pose for consumer contracts, using the Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA 2015) as a lens. While the CRA 2015 ’s broad definition of "digital content" theoretically
encompass digital assets, this paper argues that gaps exist in the CRA 2015 ’s ability to effectively cover the core consumer interest of value preservation in this evolving domain. Drawing on the defining characteristics of blockchain based digital assets
—their capacity to function as stores of value, their decentralised and immutable nature, and their unique programmability through smart contracts—this article highlights how these features create distinct consumer value propositions that diverge from more conventional digital content like software, video games and e-books. This, in turn, demands a re-evaluation of the available legal remedies. This article focuses on highlighting these distinct differences between digital assets and traditional digital content and recognises the considerations required in extending actual consumer protections to digital assets.