Substituted service via NFTs: Coming soon to Australia?

As the use of cryptocurrencies and tokens for investment grows in popularity, courts have been forced to adapt their approach to traditional laws pertaining to fraud and tracing of funds involving crypto assets.

This is due to the fact that offenders in these cases often remain unknown preferring anonymity; reside in different or unknown jurisdictions; or actively evade service of court proceedings. In response, courts in the United States and United Kingdom have recently endorsed the innovative method of substituted service over the blockchain by way of Non-Fungible Tokens ("NFTs").¹ This involves sending NFTs to the wallets believed to contain the stolen cryptocurrency, thus providing a unique and effective means of serving legal documents to respondents when their identity remains unknown.