Love, Honor and Ledger: Why Couples Are Marrying With Crypto Prenups

Welcome to the Weekender, where the only thing more volatile than Bitcoin is the human heart.

In 2026, couples still swap playlists and promise forever, but now they also swap custody arrangements for a ledger, argue over who pays the gas fees, and discover that “our savings” includes a wallet named DefinitelyNotMaritalAssets.eth.

Young adults are building wealth in ways the legal system wasn’t designed for, with cryptocurrency holdings, monetized social accounts and creator brands. This is pushing prenups from cold-hearted to common sense, Irwin Mitchell, a law firm in the United Kingdom, reported Jan. 16.

In a survey of 1,000 Brits aged 18 to 44 with assets, 47% said they’re open to a prenup, 32% said they own cryptocurrency, and 58% of crypto owners said they’re considering a prenup to protect that digital wealth.

The creator economy is also showing up, as 17% said they are content creators with monetized accounts, and 65% of those creators are considering a prenup.

Just as telling, 67% of digital asset holders said they think the law hasn’t kept up with the digital world.

The report also flagged a practical headache for divorce courts: Crypto’s value can swing dramatically between financial disclosure and a final hearing.

The funny thing about internet money is that it’s now treated like property in plenty of places. In England and Wales, the Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2025 reinforces that digital assets like crypto tokens can attract property rights, useful when the marital estate includes a pile of Bitcoin next to the kitchen renovation budget.

In practice, crypto turns breakups into three mini-problems: finding it, valuing it and moving it.

Finding it can be easier than people think (blockchains are traceable), but only if you know where to look, such as exchanges, on-chain wallets, hardware devices and that definitely-not-mine browser extension.

Valuing it is the chaos engine. Unlike pensions or property, crypto can whipsaw between dates, which is why Irwin Mitchell’s lawyers are already talking about the system needing fresher, closer-to-real-time valuations.

Moving it is the part no one tells you at the altar. Coins don’t move without private keys, device access or exchange cooperation.

So, if you’re listing crypto for a prenup or divorce disclosure, think like a compliance officer.

• Describe the asset precisely: Token/NFT name, blockchain, quantity, and where it’s held (exchange and account ID, wallet address, custodian).
• Name the valuation rule: Choose a date (separation, filing, hearing) plus a pricing source (named exchange/index) or an independent expert for illiquid tokens/NFTs.
• Solve the access issue: Name who controls private keys, what happens if one party refuses to cooperate, and whether division will be in-kind (coins) or by offset (cash/other assets).

Six notable crypto prenup/divorce moments:

• Rosemin-Culligan v. Culligan [2025] EWFC 1 (U.K.): A financial remedy case where a Bitcoin holding bought for 10,000 pounds (about $13,600) in 2012 was later valued at around 20 million pounds, alongside fights over complex business assets.
• Chao Liu v. Junhua Chang (Washington, U.S.): The court wrestled with how to divide Bitcoin (including a 53.21 BTC figure) and leaned on offsets rather than a simple send-half-to-your-ex transfer.
• In re Marriage of DeSouza (California, U.S.): A cautionary tale about nondisclosure. The appellate court found a spouse breached duties by failing to disclose cryptocurrency activity, with remedies ordered.
• LaFond v. LaFond (Nevada, U.S.): A stipulated decree valued Bitcoin around $80,000. Later allegations of misrepresentation and soaring values fueled post-divorce litigation over access and division.
• Wohlt v. Wohlt (Indiana Supreme Court, U.S.): The court treated cryptocurrencies mined, traded and stored by a family business as part of “all assets” covered by a property settlement agreement, proving drafting (and definitions like “all”) matters.
• The $500,000 hidden-Bitcoin stand-off (reported 2023): A spouse allegedly hid about $500,000 in Bitcoin. The punchline was pure crypto, as one person had the ledger device, and the other had the PIN.

The upside of all this? Crypto is finally making couples talk about money early, clearly and in writing. The downside is that those talks now include phrases like “cold storage,” “staking rewards” and “multi-sig.”

Consider it the new love language. Right after, “I trust you,” and right before, “Please confirm you’ve disclosed all wallets.”

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