Divorcing couple fights over bitcoin

It’s no longer so easy to hide assets from your soon-to-be ex-spouse

Ric Edelman: I want to tell you the story of Erika and Frank de Souza. They are divorcing. Their divorce has been going on for eight years. And in court they've been arguing over everything: child support, profits from the sale of his company, splitting up their $4 million home. But the biggest argument lately? Who gets the Bitcoin. In 2013, before they separated, Mr. de Souza bought 500 Bitcoins for $125,000. They're now worth $20 million. In 2020 after three years of litigation, the court ruled that Mr. de Souza failed to disclose his crypto investments and ordered him to give Mrs. de Souza $6 million of his Bitcoin. This is the first major Bitcoin divorce in the United States. People planning to divorce, they often hide money from their spouses. They used to buy gold and they stash in safe deposit boxes. Now they're buying Bitcoin and divorce lawyers are hiring forensic investigators to track digital wallets. How's your marriage? Where's the money? Yeah, the joke used to be, where's the beef? Now it's where's the bitcoin? Is your partner or spouse buy in crypto without you knowing it? Another illustration of how crypto has gone mainstream.