The legal grey zones in cryptocurrencies have been an underlying concern for investors and the public. The struggle to regulate cryptocurrencies exposes crypto owners to risk of theft by cybercriminals, with a record of approximately $3 billion worth of cryptocurrency being stolen in 2022.
With over 2 million people in the UK who are possessing and using cryptocurrency, the UK legal system is trying to catch up. Crypto theft victims can now seek to recover their lost assets through the legal proceedings via the civil courts.In this article, we will discuss the recent two High Court cases demonstrating the ability of the Courts in England and Wales to flexibly apply the law to issues arising out of crypto asset transactions.
In Jones v Persons Unknown [2022] EWHC 2543 (Comm), the Claimant had been fraudulently convinced to transfer 89.61616088 in Bitcoins to a fake crypto-investment platform. His Bitcoins were traced to a wallet associated with the company Huobi, a Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange. A worldwide freezing injunction was obtained against the persons unknown and a proprietary injunction against Huobi.
Due to the complexity of the Defendants in this case, it is helpful to set out who they are individually:
The Court was asked to decide on the following:
The High Court ruled that the Claimant was entitled to judgement against the fraudsters for deceit and unjust enrichment. Therefore, he was eligible to have the Bitcoin, or its value equivalent, returned. In addition, Huobi was declared a constructive trustee in respect of the fraudulently transferred Bitcoin and so the Claimant was entitled to an order for the delivery-up of his Bitcoin by Huobi.
In LMN v Bitflyer Holdings Inc [2022] EWHC 2954 (Comm), the hackers transferred millions of dollars' worth of cryptocurrency from the Claimant's computer systems in 2020. An expert traced the cryptocurrency transfer through 26 recipient exchange addresses and discovered that these exchanges were all operated by one of the Defendants or companies belonging to the same group. Furthermore, the exchanges were located in several foreign jurisdictions.
In order to further trace the misappropriated cryptocurrency, the Claimant required 'Know Your Client' and other anti-money laundering information from the various exchanges and third parties.
The Court granted the information orders sought by the Claimant, relying on two strands of case law authority, namely;
The latter's jurisdiction arises when there is robust evidence that the Claimant's property has been misappropriated. Norwich Pharmacal “allowed a claimant to seek disclosure from an “involved” third party who had information enabling the claimant to identify a wrongdoer so as to be in a position to bring an action against the wrongdoer where otherwise he would not be able to do so” [para 18].
In addition, Bitflyer Holdings is one of the first decisions in which the Court has granted permission to serve proceedings outside the jurisdiction under the new Gateway for Information Orders (GIO). These orders were introduced in October 2022 to facilitate the making of Norwich Pharmacal and Bankers Trust applications against Defendants overseas. GIO apply where there is an application for disclosure in order to obtain information regarding the true identity of a potential Defendant and/or what has become of the Claimant's property, with a view to issuing proceedings that are intended to be commenced in England and Wales.
Both these decisions are incredibly important in the Wild West environment of cryptocurrency. One of the advantages of trading in cryptocurrency is the elevated level of anonymity it provides. The other side of this is that fraudsters, money launderers, and other shady characters are drawn to cryptocurrency like moths to a flame. These decisions highlight that English Courts are not only willing to treat cryptocurrency as a form of property and to make orders aimed at assisting the recovery of stolen cryptocurrency, but they are also alive to the fact that the law must move quickly to protect Claimants' rights, especially when Parliament may be slower to legislate. Ultimately, these decisions confirm both that England and Wales is a favourable jurisdiction for those conducting business that involves crypto assets and that, should fraud take place, there are strategies available to seek a recovery.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
© Mondaq® Ltd 1994 – 2023. All Rights Reserved.
Forgot your password?
Free, unlimited access to more than half a million articles (one-article limit removed) from the diverse perspectives of 5,000 leading law, accountancy and advisory firms
Articles tailored to your interests and optional alerts about important changes
Receive priority invitations to relevant webinars and events
You’ll only need to do it once, and readership information is just for authors and is never sold to third parties.
We need this to enable us to match you with other users from the same organisation. It is also part of the information that we share to our content providers (“Contributors”) who contribute Content for free for your use.
Mondaq uses cookies on this website. By using our website you agree to our use of cookies as set out in our Privacy Policy.