ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the conflict-of-laws issues arising in connection with blockchain-based crypto-assets. It covers the issues of jurisdiction and choice of law. The borderless and distributed architecture of blockchains poses a great challenge to the methodology of conflict of laws, which relies on the geographical localization of issues. The challenge is particularly acute with respect to proprietary issues. Amongst the variety of proprietary issues, this chapter focuses on proprietary restitution, which may give rise to such questions as whether crypto-assets are subject to the ownership right and what are the prerequisites for the passing of ownership. Japan is blessed with good materials to consider this issue, including the bankruptcy case of Mt. Gox, which was once the world’s largest provider of crypto-currency exchange.
