Digital Asset Claims Evidence Standards
Digital Asset Claims produces documentation, not advice. That distinction only holds if the documentation itself is built to a consistent standard — every item of material captured the same way, retained under the same controls, and reported with the same discipline about what it does and does not show. This page sets out that standard.
Documentation standards
Every source used in a case — a block explorer page, a corporate filing, an archived web page, a client-supplied document — is captured with its retrieval date, its original location or reference, and a preserved copy taken at the time it was obtained. Findings are written with an explicit citation back to the source material that supports them, so a reader can check the underlying record rather than take the conclusion on trust.
Chain of custody for digital material
Digital material is hashed on intake so any later alteration, deliberate or accidental, is detectable. Each item is logged against the engagement reference with the date it was received, who handled it, and where it is stored. Copies used for working analysis are kept separate from the preserved original, so the source material a finding cites is never the same file that was annotated or processed during review.
Recording gaps and conflicts
Where the available material is incomplete, that gap is recorded explicitly rather than smoothed over — a case file states what evidence exists, what was sought but not obtained, and why. Where two sources conflict, both are retained and both are described in the record; a report does not present only the source that supports a preferred conclusion. This mirrors the rating discipline set out in research methodology, where a conflict keeps a finding at a lower confidence rating until it is resolved.
What the firm will not assert
Digital Asset Claims does not assert legal ownership of an asset, the outcome of any legal or regulatory process, or a party's state of mind or intent, from documentary or technical evidence alone. Where those questions are relevant to a case, the documentation identifies the facts the evidence supports and leaves the legal or regulatory conclusion to the client's own advisers or the relevant authority.
Limitations
These standards govern how material is captured and reported; they do not guarantee that sufficient material exists in every case to reach a conclusive finding. Where evidence is insufficient, the documentation says so rather than substituting inference for a documented record — see the confidence scale for how that is rated.