A landmark case in the UK's courts is shedding light on the application of traditional property law to digital assets. In a recent ruling, a High Court judge has greenlit a lawsuit involving the alleged theft of over 2,323 Bitcoin.
The plaintiff, Ping Fai Yuen, claims his estranged wife, Fun Yung Li, secretly obtained the recovery phrase to his Trezor hardware wallet and transferred the Bitcoin without his consent. The funds were valued at approximately $60 million at the time of the theft but are now worth roughly $172 million due to current market prices.
Li's legal team argued that the tort of conversion cannot apply to digital assets, but the judge allowed the lawsuit to continue under alternative claims. The case highlights the need for clearer legal frameworks around digital asset ownership as cryptocurrency adoption expands globally.