UK man claims ex-wife stole 2,323 BTC via home surveillance, now worth $172M

ChainCatcher report: Last week, the UK High Court ruled that a lawsuit involving the theft of 2,323 bitcoins may proceed to trial. The plaintiff, Ping Fai Yuen, stated in court documents that his separated wife, Fun Yung Li, secretly obtained the recovery phrase for his Trezor hardware wallet in August 2023 using home surveillance cameras and transferred 2,323 bitcoins without authorization. At the time of the theft, the bitcoins were worth nearly $60 million; at the current price of approximately $74,000 each, their value is now around $172 million. Court documents show that the transferred bitcoins were dispersed across 71 non-exchange-held blockchain addresses through multiple transactions and have not been moved since December 21, 2023. Yuen claimed his daughter had warned Li about her attempt to steal the bitcoins, after which he installed recording devices at home. Following the discovery of the transfer, Yuen physically assaulted Li and pleaded guilty in 2024 to charges of actual bodily harm and two counts of common assault. Previously, Li had sought to dismiss the case, arguing that the plaintiff’s core claim of “conversion” applies only to tangible property and not to digital assets such as bitcoin. The judge agreed with this view but ruled that the case may proceed to trial based on other legal claims.