Jo Carr-West comments in Bloomberg on how cryptocurrency is impacting divorce settlements
Bitcoin Bitterness Starts to Make Messy Divorces Even Worse
Divorces are messy, and cryptocurrencies are helping to make them a whole lot more so.
Virtual currencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum are a new challenge for lawyers, plagued with volatility and secrecy that is extending the already painful process of dividing a couple’s assets.
The rising popularity of Bitcoin — and for a while at least, its rising value — means more separations involve the currency, which is difficult to trace and hard to value. Although parties have a duty to provide full disclosure of their assets in a divorce, the anonymous nature of cryptocurrencies potentially make them a safe haven for spouses wishing to hide their money from a warring partner.
It’s creating another layer of distrust that we haven’t had to deal with before, Jo Carr-West, a partner at London-based Hunters, said in an interview. The public perception that there is a lack of a paper trail causes the anxiety.
This article was originally published in Bloomberg Technology and can be accessed here.