What are the challenges of cryptocurrency in a divorce?

Cryptocurrency tends to complicate North Carolina divorces. Spouses might not have the firmest grasp on cryptocurrency and how it relates to them when they need to divide their assets.

A cryptocurrency is a form of digital currency that is considered more de-regulated from the centralized currency used within the United States. Being a less regulated currency with virtually no paper trail, it brings a set of challenges to any divorce where one or both spouses own it. However, these challenges don’t make it impossible to include cryptocurrency among a list of assets to be split.

What’s the value of cryptocurrency?

One of the things that makes cryptocurrency popular is that it doubles as an investment as well as a currency. A person can buy a set amount of cryptocurrency with U.S. dollars, and if they let it sit, then that money will either grow or shrink with the demand of that particular cryptocurrency. For this reason, cryptocurrencies can be looked at as investments. However, unlike investments, cryptocurrencies also have the option to be spent instantly.

How do you split cryptocurrencies?

The divorce process will involve both individuals being asked to provide a document of any cryptocurrencies they own as well as what platform the currency is hosted on. From there, there will be an audit of all the platforms and accounts in the couple’s individual and joint names.

The volatile value of the cryptocurrencies might change from morning to evening. In general, an average might be used in court. The court also might pull up receipts to see where the cryptocurrencies were originally purchased from. If one spouse used a joint account to purchase the cryptocurrency, that could give the other spouse rights to that cryptocurrency.

Depending on the value of the cryptocurrency, the judge might order the couple not to use the cryptocurrency or to cash out the cryptocurrency immediately and put it in a separate fund to be split later. How the cryptocurrency is dealt with might be left up to the couple and their lawyers to negotiate.