New book maps over 100 UAE court rulings on digital asset litigation for the first time

LONDON, April 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- At a moment when cryptocurrency disputes are overwhelming courts and arbitral tribunals worldwide, and when most jurisdictions have yet to develop coherent doctrine for handling them, UAE courts have quietly built one of the most substantive bodies of crypto case law in the world. Mahmoud Abuwasel, international disputes partner at Wasel & Wasel, has spent years inside that body of law. Just recently, The Academy of Experts (TAE) elected him a Full Member in the Practicing Category (UAE Law), recognizing his standing as a qualified expert witness for proceedings before courts in the United Kingdom, the United States, and other international jurisdictions.

The admission was certified by The Right Honourable David Neuberger, Baron Neuberger of Abbotsbury, President of The Academy of Experts and former President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom.

TAE Full Membership is not conferred by application alone. It requires demonstrated competence in the substantive law, an understanding of the procedural obligations that govern expert witnesses, and the professional independence that courts depend on when expert testimony shapes outcomes in high-value disputes. Abuwasel's track record reflects exactly that combination. He has provided expert opinions before the Supreme Court of New York and the US District Court for the Southern District of New York in multi-billion-dollar disputes — including an $8 billion claim — addressing complex questions of UAE, DIFC, and ADGM law on civil conspiracy, fraud, fiduciary duties, and conflicts of law. He has submitted expert reports to the High Court of Justice of England and Wales on matters ranging from the validity of service of proceedings to corporate criminal liability in the context of a $120 million worldwide freezing order. He has testified in Swiss court proceedings at the intersection of Islamic doctrine, the UAE Civil Code, and agency liability in a $30 million hostile takeover dispute, and in international arbitration on a dispute arising from an $800 million infrastructure project.

Mapping the Case Law No One Had Mapped

Concurrent with his TAE election, Abuwasel has published UAE Crypto Litigation: Navigating Risk, Enforcement, and Compliance in the Digital Economy — the first systematic survey of its kind. The book works through more than 100 UAE judgments issued between 2019 and 2025, examining how courts have ruled on custody failures, exchange collapses, fraud claims, and platform liability as the digital asset industry has grown, stumbled, and repeatedly collapsed around them.

The picture that emerges is more coherent than most practitioners expect. UAE courts have not treated cryptocurrency disputes as legally exotic. Established fraud doctrine applies. Asset recovery principles apply. Blockchain evidence is admitted but with a higher documentation threshold than conventional financial records. For litigators advising clients on risk, enforcement, or recovery in UAE-connected disputes, that consistency matters enormously.

"What the case law demonstrates is that UAE courts have been methodical," said Abuwasel. "The framework isn't being invented from scratch each time — it's being applied and refined. That's important for practitioners and clients who need to understand what a realistic outcome looks like."

The book arrives as the scale of crypto losses makes the stakes impossible to ignore. Recent incidents have seen hundreds of millions of dollars evaporate in minutes. Parties seeking recovery increasingly look to jurisdictions with developed case law and functioning enforcement mechanisms — and the UAE, with its established commercial courts and DIFC framework, is among a very short list.

UAE Crypto Litigation is designed as a working reference: structured for practitioners who need to locate and understand specific lines of doctrine quickly, rather than read sequentially. It is intended for litigators, arbitration counsel, compliance teams, and in-house counsel engaged with disputes that touch UAE law.

About Mahmoud Abuwasel

Mahmoud Abuwasel is an international disputes partner at Wasel & Wasel, where his practice focuses on cross-border commercial litigation and UAE, DIFC, and ADGM law. He has served as an expert witness before the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, the Supreme Court of New York, the High Court of Justice of England and Wales, Swiss courts, and in major international arbitrations. He is the author of UAE Crypto Litigation: A Systematic Analysis of Court Rulings.

About The Academy of Experts

The Academy of Experts is an internationally recognized professional body certifying expert witnesses across multiple disciplines. It is known for upholding rigorous standards of independence, professional conduct, and the integrity of expert evidence in legal proceedings worldwide.

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SOURCE Wasel & Wasel