Attempting to hide any asset during a divorce is risky and can result in the non-disclosing party being in contempt of court and liable to costs penalties. Even without concrete evidence of cryptocurrency assets a Judge could make inferences as to their existence and potential value and factor this in to their overall judgement and related financial orders.

For example, one potential outcome would be one spouse being awarded all the ‘copper-bottomed’ assets (which typically include a house, cash in the bank, pensions and other investments) and the non-disclosing spouse being left with the risk-laden or non-disclosed (but inferred) assets (such as a Bitcoin holding).

Although money held within a blockchain is largely anonymous and hard to trace, it’s ‘entrance’ into the digital space will be traceable. For example, if you can prove that large amounts of money have been transferred through a cryptocurrency exchange, then you will find yourself in a strong position.

A forensic analyst can help you identify these touch points and give weight to your claim; however it is important not to spend large sums of money on trying to prove the existence of something, which has a very fluid value. A good divorce lawyer will be able to advise you on the best approach with regards to proving the existence of Bitcoins in divorce, and if it is financially worth doing so.

Nevertheless, as with any other class of asset under English divorce law, the Court retains extensive discretionary powers to distribute cryptocurrencies. Although digital currencies may be harder to value than more traditional assets such as stocks and shares, this does not prevent the Judge from determining a valuation for the purposes of imposing a financial settlement on parties to a divorce.

We would not recommend that you actively choose to hide the existence of Bitcoins, or any form of cryptocurrency during your separation from your partner. As shown in this guide, cryptocurrencies, or at least their value, are not immune from being reallocated during a divorce.

Divorces can be highly stressful and deceitful behaviour often backfires and can turn out to be very costly. Any attempt to hide assets, whether they are Bitcoins or not, is likely to be frowned on by a Judge if the proceedings do go to court.

The rapid rise in the popularity of Bitcoin since its creation in 2009 and the wealth it has generated, means that digital currencies  are likely to become a frequent and significant feature in modern day divorces, notwithstanding their volatility and elusive nature.

The English divorce courts retain extensive powers to order full disclosure and penalise non-disclosure. Those powers will be tested in the Bitcoin era but in essence cryptocurrencies will be just another class of asset to be divided between the parties in a divorce.