A British man accuses his wife of using surveillance cameras to steal $172 million in Bitcoin

On March 17, CoinDesk reported that the UK High Court last week greenlit a trial for a theft case involving 2,323 bitcoins—currently worth roughly $172 million—testing how UK property law applies to digital assets. UK resident Ping Fai Yuen claims in court filings that his estranged wife, Fun Yung Li, secretly obtained the mnemonic seed phrase for his hardware wallet via home surveillance cameras in August 2023 and transferred the bitcoins without authorization. At the time of the theft, the coins were valued at ~$60 million; they’ve since surged to ~$172 million at current prices. The funds were held in a PIN-protected Trezor cold wallet, but anyone with the 24-word seed phrase can reconstruct the wallet and move the assets. The transferred bitcoins have gone through multiple transactions and are now dispersed across 71 non-exchange blockchain addresses, untouched since December 21, 2023. Yuen said he installed recording devices at home after his daughter warned him his wife was trying to steal the bitcoins. When he discovered the transfer, he assaulted Li, pleading guilty in 2024 to one count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of common assault. Police searched Li’s home and found multiple hardware wallets and seed phrases but took no further action pending new evidence. Legally, Li’s side sought to dismiss the case, arguing Yuen’s main allegation relies on "conversion tort"—a claim traditionally tied to tangible property under English law, not digital assets like bitcoin. The court acknowledged this argument but ruled the case can proceed on alternative legal claims; if the allegations are proven, the bitcoins could still be recovered.