As the years creep by, we are told, there comes a point when the realisation dawns that the world now belongs to other people. I felt that way this week on hearing that: a prominent commercial firm is going to accept cryptoassets such as Ether and Bitcoin as payment from clients; and that elsewhere, a magic circle counterpart may be on the cusp of appointing a ‘chief happiness officer’.

Paul rogerson

Paul Rogerson

Never mind Orwell, what would Aldous Huxley make of it?

‘We don’t believe in law as usual,’ says crypto enthusiast gunnercooke, a maxim to which the firm also adheres by eschewing that stuffy initial capital letter. ‘Up to now, only a few US law firms allow for cryptoasset payments, so we are proud to be at the forefront of innovation in the UK.’

Will this catch on? Perhaps. As the SRA acknowledges, no fresh regulatory issue arises. But law firms need to be wary. A key element of budgeting, of course, is the timing of cash receipts. Cryptoassets introduce a potentially hazardous new variable here. Caveat venditor.

Peter Noyce, a partner at the accounting firm Menzies who specialises in advising legal firms, tells me: ‘Given the massive fluctuations in valuations of cryptocurrencies, my concern would be while you may know the timing you will not know the amount of the receipt, as this may not bear any resemblance to the invoice levied. It’s like being paid in another currency and becoming exposed to currency fluctuations, but on steroids!’

Peter’s point was timely. Earlier this week, after Russian tanks rumbled into Ukraine, the price of Bitcoin fell by more than 5%. As the newspaper City A.M. pointed out, ‘there are no clear signs yet that investors are treating crypto as a safe haven’.

Also timely is a new report from international watchdog the Financial Stability Board, which warned of the potential for cryptoassets to trigger another global financial crisis: ‘If financial institutions continue to become more involved in cryptoasset markets, this could affect their balance sheets and liquidity in unexpected ways.’

Law firm balance sheets, too.

As I write, and not coincidentally, gold is trading at its highest levels for more than a year.

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