The revelation came a few months into her divorce proceedings.
With financial infidelity on the rise, many people are now hiding their wealth in crypto wallets, away from the prying eyes of their spouses. In one such recent case, a woman in New York discovered that her husband had stored 12 bitcoins worth $500,000 in a previously unknown crypto wallet. cnbc informed of. The revelation came a few months into her divorce proceedings.
The woman, identified as Sarita, became suspicious because her husband, who earned some $3 million a year, was not disclosing more assets in the divorce case. He then enlisted the help of a forensic accountant, who tracked his cryptocurrency investments using blockchain transaction analysis to unearth hidden assets.
“I know about bitcoin and things like that. I didn’t know much about it. It never even crossed my mind, because it’s not like we were discussing it or investing together. … It was definitely a shock,” Sarita said.
Divorce attorneys told the outlet that it is becoming increasingly common for people to hide crypto from their partners. Lamenting the growing trend, he noted that the law is struggling to keep up with digital assets that are largely out of reach of centralized intermediaries such as banks.
Florida, Texas, New York and California attorneys told cnbc That crypto now plays a role in approximately 20% to 50% of divorces as it has become a more popular investment in recent years.
“The thing with cryptocurrency is that it’s not regulated by any kind of centralized bank, so generally you can’t call someone and get documents and information related to someone’s cryptocurrency holdings,” said the divorce attorney. Kelly Burris told cnbc, He added that it is easier to hide cryptocurrency assets if one spouse is tech-savvy and the other is not.
according to a nbc news poll, 1 in 5 Americans has invested in, traded or used cryptocurrencies, with males between the ages of 18 and 49 accounting for the highest share of all demographic groups.