A U.K. High Court judge allowed a lawsuit over the alleged theft of more than 2,323 bitcoins last week to move forward, in a case that highlights how the country’s legal system is still adapting traditional property law to cryptocurrencies.
UK resident Ping Fai Yuen claimed in court papers last week that his ex-wife, Fun Yung Li, used CCTV cameras in their home to secretly obtain the recovery phrase on his hardware wallet and transfer 2,323 bitcoins. without his permission in August 2023, according to the High Court of England and Wales docket.
The bitcoin was worth just under $60 million at the time of the alleged theft 30 months ago, but is now worth approximately $172 million at the current price of just over $74,000.
The stolen crypto was stored in a Trezor cold wallet protected by a PIN. But anyone with the wallet’s 24-word recovery phrase could recreate the wallet and move the funds, the court noted. It was then transferred through several transactions and is now located on 71 blockchain addresses that are not found on exchanges. The funds have not been moved since December 21, 2023, according to the court.
Yuen said he then installed audio recording devices in the house after his daughter warned him that Li was trying to take the bitcoin. After discovering the transfer, Yuen confronted Li and assaulted her. He later pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of common assault in 2024. Officers seized several hardware wallets and recovery seeds during a search of his home, although authorities subsequently took no further action pending further evidence.
Previously, according to the documents, the wife asked the court to dismiss the case, arguing that because the husband’s main claim was conversion, which in England is a legal term traditionally used when someone takes physical property, it could not apply to digital assets, such as bitcoin.
The judge agreed with the wife, but ruled that the case can still continue under different legal claims that could allow the husband to recover the bitcoin if his allegations are proven. The case will now go to trial, the judge said.
