A U.K. court has allowed a theft case to proceed in which the victim claims his wife stole a sizeable amount of BTC by spying on information using CCTVs, according to a CoinDesk report. The BTC was reportedly stored in a Trezor hardware wallet with a 24-word recovery phrase.
The case marks a shift in how U.K. law now deals with instances of cryptocurrency theft, but not a shift that is fully in favour of cryptocurrency holders. In this case, the judge has said the husband’s claim of conversion cannot be considered, but has allowed it to proceed on the grounds that the victim’s BTC may be recovered.
A conversion claim arises when a plaintiff claims his personal property was interfered with in some way by which he loses control over it.
U.K. recognizes digital assets as personal property in December
The update follows an addition to the U.K. personal property law in December last year, in which digital assets are now considered a form of personal property.
The defendant, Ping Fai Yuen, says that his spouse, Fun Yung Li, managed to gain access to his hardware wallet via CCTV, taking his seed recovery phrase and using that to transfer the BTC from his wallet.
The claim estimates the stolen cryptocurrency at 2,323 BTC valued at $172 million at an average price of $74,000.
According to court filings, the individual claimant owns an investment portfolio, two properties in Dubai, and a liquid balance account—all of which were valued at 6.66 million pounds in February ($8.8 million).
The judge has ruled that the hearing will proceed, potentially with a joint expert appointed early considering the volatile nature of Bitcoin.