Judge tells estranged couple with €500K in crypto and €1.3m in assets: 'Ye will end up with nothing'
The court heard the Bitcoin alone is currently worth probably €250,000 while their Dogecoin is now worth in the hundreds of thousands of euro and there is €70,000 to €80,000 in Litecoin. File picture
A judge has told an estranged married couple, who own in excess of €500,000 in cryptocurrency and additional gold and silver bullion reserves, that they are probably going to bankrupt each other “and ye will end up with nothing”.
At the family law court, Judge Alec Gabbett told the two they “need to dial it down” as it appears the two “will fight to the death at this point”.
He said: “I have rarely come across a case as emotive as this and I have never seen two people as emotionally charged as the two of you in court.”
The husband told the court that the couple have €1.3m in assets frozen in a European country. The two separated a number of years ago and have been engaged in various legal battles in different countries concerning their divorce.
Judge Gabbett said: “This case is a monster. It is a monster. Ye have created a monster between the two of ye and I am apportioning the blame equally in that sense.”
Judge Gabbett said the couple were “two highly intelligent, well-educated people” but told the man: “You are totally and utterly deluded in some ways in relation to some aspects of this and that concerns — you could lose your very good job”.
The wife was seeking a safety order and Judge Gabbett has granted the woman a safety order for three years against her estranged husband.
Judge Gabbett said: "I am very concerned about her welfare and the child’s welfare in a situation where there is no protection of some sort.”
He said there were no allegations of physical violence against the man in the case.
The judge told the man: “You are coming up with all sorts of schemes to bring her down and that is the part that worries me the most. I am granting a safety order for three years that covers your child.”
The wife said the couple had been early investors in crypto currency. She said: “We had amassed quite a large amount of money.”
The husband said all the investment was made with his salary.
Asked by Judge Gabbett how much crypto currency is involved, the woman said: “We are talking about in excess of €500,000”.
The woman said the crypto currency investment involved 6.6 Bitcoin, which she said alone was currently worth probably €250,000.
She said: “There is a colossal amount of Dogecoin which were worthless when we bought it but are now worth also in the hundreds of thousands of euro. There is Bitcoin cash, there is Litecoin — all of these have considerable value — there is €70,000 to €80,000 in Litecoin.
Both the man and woman made claims and counter-claims that each other had put the crypto currency beyond the reach of each other pending the outcome of the divorce proceedings.
The woman said: "I am forced to fight legal battles in three countries with no resources.”
Judge Gabbett said it would be for another judge to decide who gets what in the divorce settlement.
The woman told the court: “I am not here because I enjoy being here. I am here because I am in genuine fear. I am genuine fear for myself, I am genuine fear for my child. I never thought I would live without a penny."
The woman said she never thought she would have to install security cameras at her home.
The man said he had never harassed his ex-wife and agreed his case was that his ex-wife should not be frightened of him because there was nothing to be frightened of.
The woman made allegations of constant gaslighting, coercion, isolation, financial control by her ex-husband and in evidence he denied all these allegations.
Judge Gabbett ordered that the man have access to the couple’s child while in Ireland.
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