Overview
- While rejecting the primary conversion claim as inapplicable to Bitcoin, the High Court allowed alternative civil claims to proceed in a case likely to shape how English law treats digital assets.
- Claimant Ping Fai Yuen alleges his estranged wife, Fun Yung Li, covertly obtained his 24-word recovery phrase via home surveillance and transferred the coins in August 2023.
- The 2,323 BTC were dispersed across 71 blockchain addresses through multiple transactions, with no activity recorded since December 21, 2023, according to court documents.
- Police arrested Li in 2023 and seized multiple cold wallets and recovery seeds, but later said no further action would be taken pending new evidence.
- Yuen is seeking the return of the bitcoin or its equivalent value and worldwide freezing orders over the defendants’ crypto, and the judge urged an early trial given volatility and security risks.