The Digital Dissolution: Reimagining Property Law for Virtual Assets

Abstract

Traditional property law was built on the physics of tangibility-land, bricks, and physical goods. The defining characteristic of a property right has long been exclusivity: if I possess an object, you cannot. However, the rise of digital assets, from cloud-hosted data and software licenses to non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and virtual real estate, has fundamentally challenged this paradigm. This paper examines the friction between classical property doctrines and digital assets, arguing that modern legal frameworks must shift from an absolute ownership model to a nuanced "bundle of rights" approach to prevent corporate overreach while protecting consumer interests.