9128 / What are digital assets?

Generally, an individual’s digital property or digital assets include any information that exists in digital form (whether online or stored electronically on a device such as a USB drive or CD) that are either created by or about an individual. According to the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (Uniform Act), now enacted in the majority of states, a digital asset is simply “an electronic record in which an individual has a right or interest,” but not the “underlying asset or liability unless the asset or liability is itself an electronic record.”¹

In more practical terms, digital assets can be categorized as either (1) personal digital assets (with no monetary value, (2) personal digital assets with real monetary value or (3) digital assets related to a business.

These may be stored either on a physical device or media (such as a computer, hard drive, smartphone, memory stick, etc.) or electronically in the cloud (including email, social media, and other types of online accounts). Collectively, these make up a person’s digital estate.

Personal Digital Assets (Without Monetary Value)