First meeting of the Experts’ Group on Digital Tokens
From 16 to 18 June 2025, the Experts’ Group (EG) on Digital Tokens met for its first meeting. The meeting, held in hybrid format, was attended by 53 delegates and other experts, representing 18 HCCH Members and 8 Observers, as well as by members of the Permanent Bureau (PB) of the HCCH. Pursuant to the decision of the Council on General Affairs and Policy (CGAP) in March 2025, the EG was established to study the private international law issues raised by digital tokens, subject to available resources (see Conclusion and Decision No 15 of CGAP 2025).
In the exploratory phase of the Digital Tokens Project, participants identified the UNCITRAL Model Law on Electronic Transferable Records (MLETR) and its mechanisms for legal recognition of electronic trade documents as a priority use case for further study. The EG began this study of MLETR as a dedicated and separate workstream, and discussed the possible PIL matters that may arise in the use of digital trade documents, taking into account the operation of existing instruments. Under this workstream, the EG will examine the feasibility of developing guidance that will complement and function alongside MLETR.
Under the EG’s other workstream, delegates and other experts discussed PIL matters relating to priority use cases of tokens, reviewing questions set out in the EG’s Issues Paper. These questions discussed challenges to jurisdiction, applicable law, and recognition and enforcement with respect to digital tokens, as well as the possibility of establishing international cooperation mechanisms to resolve cross-border challenges.
In a Technical Roundtable organised adjacent to the meeting, experts and practitioners in the field delivered presentations covering the operation of the UNCITRAL MLETR; jurisdiction matters in digital tokens; commodity-based tokens; and the developing US law for digital tokens and blockchain.
The EG will hold its next meeting in November 2025, and will present a report on the progress of its work to CGAP in March 2026.
More information on the Digital Tokens Project is available on the HCCH website.