Divorces took almost as long as the marriage. With a recent news, A wealthy San Francisco couple had a divorce over child support, the money from disposable of the husband’s software firm, and the future of their $3.6 million home.
However, the most crucial judicial decision between Erica and Francis de Souza was over a fierce argument over millions of dollars in missing crypto.
We all know Bitcoin is the sole representative in the cryptocurrency sector, and Wall Street is taking a great interest in it. The crypto world is full of twists and turns. When it comes to characteristics, every crypto is distinct; yet Bitcoin outperforms them all due to its impossibly high price with stable return in the crypto market.
It is rising at such a rapid pace that has resulted in some spouses hiding digital assets during divorce settlements, and experts say it’s difficult to hunt down the assets.
According to industry associations, more than 20 million Americans possess cryptocurrencies, and digital currency market values reached a new high of $2 trillion in last year April. Experts believe that these motivated more couples in divorce proceedings or those contemplating divorce to conceal their hoard.
With a staggering fact , almost 50 percent of all marriages in the United States will end in divorce or separation.
Crypto Stockpile Emerges As A Critical Cause of Dispute in Divorce Proceedings
Mr. de Souza, a tech professional, has purchased little more than 1,000 Bitcoins before divorcing his wife in 2013.
After three years of legal dispute, a San Francisco appeals court concluded in 2020 that Mr. de Souza had failed to adequately disclose several aspects of his cryptocurrency interests; which had surged in value. The court ordered him to hand over more than $6 million in Bitcoin to Ms. de Souza.
De Souza’s case has been regarded as the first prominent Bitcoin divorce in legal proceedings. Such marital disputes are becoming more prevalent. As cryptocurrencies become more widely accepted, the family’s divide has become a significant cause of conflict; with separated spouses swapping charges of fraud and financial mismanagement.
Divorce attorneys claimed that in many cases, couples fail to report their holdings and try to hide their crypto assets in online wallets that might be difficult to access. To follow the movement of cryptocurrency, crypto-investigative businesses charge tens of thousands of dollars.
One company, CipherBlade, discovered more than $10 million in cryptocurrencies that a spouse had hidden from his wife. Over the previous five years, the business has worked on around 100 crypto-related divorces.
“We’re trying to make it a cleaner space,” Mr Sibenik, a forensic analyst for the firm, said. “There needs to be some degree of accountability.”
Online security is critical in this digital era, mainly when investing in and holding money in crypto assets. The crypto ecosystem is expanding exponentially, with over 100 million registered people.
According to reports, as of 2021, at least 14 million people are new market fanatics; attracted by the recent bull cycle enthusiasm and ready to invest in their futures.
De Souza’s Fight Over Their Children, Home, and Now Their Cryptocurrency
In interviews, almost a dozen attorneys and forensic investigators detailed divorce instances in which one of the spouses. Generally, the husband was accused of lying about crypto transactions or concealing digital assets.
In September 2001, the de Souza’s married. That same year, Mr. de Souza launched IMlogic, an instant-messaging startup that he later sold for more than $10 million; according to court filings.
Mr. de Souza’s Bitcoin investments stretch back to April 2013; when he met Wences Casares, an early crypto entrepreneur, who sold him on digital assets. Mr. de Souza purchased around $150,000 in Bitcoin that month.
Later that year, the de Souza’s divorced, and Mr. de Souza eventually revealed that he was the owner of the Bitcoin. By the time the couple was ready to divide their assets in 2017; the investment had grown to more than $21 million in value.
Ms. de Souza’s attorneys argued in court documents that her husband’s failure to disclose earlier that so much of the Bitcoin was gone was “egregious” and that his hidden handling of the investment had cost the couple millions of dollars.
Online security is critical in this digital era, mainly when investing in and holding money in crypto assets. According to reports, as of 2021, at least 14 million people are new market players, pulled in by the recent bull cycle enthusiasm and ready to invest in their futures.
If they do not follow fundamental internet security measures and crypto best practises, these first-time crypto users might be easy targets for fraudsters and scammers.