Overview

Cryptocurrency now turns up across ordinary legal work, from client payments to disputes, estates and divorce, yet most lawyers were never taught the basics. This practical, jargon-free course gives lawyers in any practice area a clear grounding in what cryptocurrency is, how the law characterises it, and how the UK, the EU and the UAE regulate it, as at September 2026. Four short units, general awareness only.

Learning Objectives

Upon course completion, employees will gain a full and clear understanding of:

• What cryptocurrency is and how keys, wallets, exchanges and custody actually work
• The difference between stablecoins and volatile coins, and why it matters legally
• Why property, money, security and commodity are all live legal characterisations of cryptocurrency, and why jurisdictions differ
• How the UK, the EU and the UAE each regulate cryptocurrency, as three parallel worked examples
• The AML, sanctions and tax issues cryptocurrency raises, at an awareness level
• Where cryptocurrency shows up in transactions, disputes, estates, divorce and insolvency
• The risks a lawyer takes on personally, and the red flags worth recognising

Course Contents

Unit 1: Understanding Cryptocurrency

• What cryptocurrency is, and how keys, wallets and ownership actually work
• "Not your keys, not your coins": the legal stakes of custody
• Custodial exchanges versus self-custody
• Stablecoins versus volatile coins

Unit 2: How the Law Characterises Cryptocurrency

• Cryptocurrency as property, including England's Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2025
• Cryptocurrency as money, as a security and as a commodity
• Why jurisdictions reach different answers about the same asset
• A practical approach for advising when characterisation is unsettled

Unit 3: Regulation: UK, EU and UAE Side by Side

• The UK's FSMA-based regime and the new Cryptoassets Regulations 2026
• The EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation, MiCA
• The UAE's three regulators: VARA, ADGM's FSRA and the DIFC's DFSA
• Comparing the three regimes for cross-border matters

Unit 4: Crypto in Legal Practice, and Your Own Risk

• AML awareness: the FATF travel rule and sanctions screening
• Tax at a high level: the UK, EU and UAE approaches
• Crypto in transactions, disputes, estates, divorce and insolvency
• Accepting crypto as payment, client money rules, due diligence and red flags

Note

This course is general awareness training, not legal advice. Learners should take their own advice on their specific circumstances. Content is current as at September 2026.