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Hidden Bitcoin Is the New Divorce Battleground

Wealthy couples aren’t just fighting about custody and property.

In the old days, rich couples who were splitting up fought over custody of the kids, who gets the ski chalet, and how to divide up the stock shares. But in the brave new world of blockchain, The New York Times reports, cryptocurrency is increasingly one of the big issues in divorce cases. And the warring spouses aren’t just battling over how to divide it—sometimes they’re trying to prove it exists. “Originally, it was under the mattress, and then it was the bank account in the Caymans,” New York divorce lawyer Jacqueline Newman told the paper. “Now it’s crypto.” One forensic firm said it’s consulted in 100 crypto-related divorces over the last few years—sometimes involving caches worth $10 million of more in hidden coin.