U.K. judge allows lawsuit over alleged $172M bitcoin theft between spouses
A U.K. court will hear a case where a man accuses his wife of stealing $172 million in bitcoin using his hardware wallet's recovery phrase.Summary
A U.K. High Court judge has permitted a lawsuit to proceed regarding the alleged theft of 2,323 bitcoin, currently valued at approximately $172 million. Ping Fai Yuen claims his estranged wife, Fun Yung Li, secretly obtained his hardware wallet recovery phrase through home CCTV footage and transferred the bitcoin in August 2023. While the initial claim of 'conversion' was rejected as it traditionally applies to physical property, the case will continue under alternative legal arguments. The stolen bitcoin was held in a Trezor wallet and has since been distributed across 71 blockchain addresses. Yuen discovered the theft after installing audio recording devices and subsequently pleaded guilty to assault after confronting his wife. The case highlights the legal challenges of applying traditional property law to digital assets like cryptocurrency.
(Source：CoinDesk)