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Henry's comments were published in The Times, page 5, 25 February 2026.
Henry Hood, Senior Partner in our Family & Relationships department, comments on the growing challenge that cryptocurrency poses in divorce proceedings, particularly when spouses attempt to conceal digital assets.
Henry explains that the courts are increasingly aware of the difficulty lawyers face when one party may be hiding cryptocurrency. While a spouse can claim they "have nothing left" or that assets have "gone", the nature of crypto means there is often little physical evidence unless the individual cooperates.
He highlights that once someone knows that their spouse held crypto assets, lawyers are left with fundamental but complex questions: where it was kept, where it has moved, and whether it has been dissipated or simply obscured.
He notes that courts are "catching up", but lawyers still need a sophisticated understanding of crypto to pursue disclosure effectively. The volatility of the market, combined with the ease of transferring assets or storing them in inaccessible ways, continues to create real difficulties for practitioners trying to ensure fairness in financial settlements.
Speaking to The Times, Henry said that family lawyers are increasingly encountering situations in which one party denies the existence of crypto, leaving very limited information for legal teams to work with. "If the other side says they've lost the seed code, you don't know if that's true. You can't present what's not there—so where has it gone?" He added that once a spouse has knowledge of the cryptocurrency they hold, lawyers are left with the same core questions about where the assets are, where they have moved, and whether they still exist.
Henry also emphasises that the challenge is not limited to hidden wealth. Even when assets are known, resolving how to distribute or trace them can become contentious, requiring both specialist knowledge and careful navigation of the technical issues that arise.
Read the full article on page 5 of the Printed Times Newspaper, [print edition].
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