Blockchain technology allows virtual disintermediation and automatization of property transactions, which might help to design future platforms, intended to facilitate cross-border transactions within the EU and worldwide. To this end, users of these blockchain-based platforms may create the so-called “digital tokens” or “colored coins” that aim to represent rights over different types of “real world” assets. By transferring a digital token, the parties aim to transfer the ownership or other property rights over the asset represented by the token without the intervention of traditional intermediaries, such as real estate conveyancers, land registrars or notaries specializing in real estate. However, this new technological tool raises several questions in the field of private law, such as the legal nature of the token, how the effective transfer of the property rights operates or how ownership rules may be applied in this decentralized environment (e.g. rights and duties of the token holder). Some of the issues at stake have only been tentatively addressed by both lawmakers and academia. In light of this research gap, this paper addresses these controversial issues from both a private law and a comparative perspective, and proposes a model to tokenize the right of usufruct over chattels and real estate, analyzing its legal viability and limitations across six jurisdictions. The paper concludes that private law rules may be adapted to the tokenization of property rights, which may contribute to the establishment of a digital market for the trading of asset-backed tokens worldwide.

区块链技术可实现财产交易的虚拟脱中介和自动化，这可能有助于设计未来的平台，旨在促进欧盟和全球范围内的跨境交易。为此，这些基于区块链的平台的用户可以创建所谓的“数字令牌”或“彩色硬币”，旨在代表对不同类型的“现实世界”资产的权利。通过转让数字令牌，双方旨在在不由传统中介机构（例如房地产转让人，土地注册商或房地产专业公证人）干预的情况下，转让令牌所代表的资产的所有权或其他财产权。但是，这种新的技术工具在私法领域提出了一些问题，例如令牌的法律性质，在这种分散的环境中，如何有效地进行产权转让或如何使用所有权规则（例如，代币持有者的权利和义务）。立法者和学术界都只是暂时性地解决了一些紧要关头的问题。鉴于这一研究空白，本文从私法和比较的角度解决了这些有争议的问题，并提出了一个模型来标记动产和不动产使用权，并分析了其在六个司法管辖区的法律可行性和局限性。本文的结论是，私法规则可能适用于产权的令牌化，这可能有助于建立数字市场，以进行全球资产支持令牌的交易。