How to Identify Crypto Assets
If you’re seeking to identify digital assets in a divorce proceeding, a civil dispute, or any type of business litigation; the first thing to do is simply make sure that your counterparty owns digital assets. For readers who already know that cryptocurrency is involved, you can move to the next section about transaction analysis or subpoenas.
Here, we find out: Does the involved party actually own any cryptocurrency?
If you’re not sure, haven’t been explicitly told about cryptocurrency, or the financial discovery assets don’t include cryptocurrency, read on.
Step one: Ask them.
If you’re in an open civil or divorce proceeding, financial disclosures are required. If the subject is collaborative, they can provide documentation upon request.
If they didn’t initially reveal it, it could be a simple mistake. To keep them collaborative, treat it as such, even if you suspect deception.
Often times, a person thinks that you would never look for crypto, so they withhold this from their traditional financial assets. Asking shows that you’re on the ball and conducting a thorough review of all assets.
Step 2: Review Financial Statements & Disclosures.
Most people involved in crypto has an exchange (crypto bank) account. Search bank or credit card records for top exchanges.
All you need to do is review the statements and search for the names of these exchanges. Note: If you’re new to blockchain, think “bank” whenever you see “exchange.” Exchanges are simply the businesses that accept US Dollars and trade them for cryptocurrency. Exchanges will normally hold cryptocurrency assets on behalf of clients until the client chooses to withdraw them to another exchange or a private wallet. We’ll get to that part later.
The most common US-eligible cryptocurrency exchanges filtered for self-custody:
Coinbase
Robinhood
Paypal / Venmo
Square / Cash App
Crypto.com
Kraken
Binance US
Gemini
eToro
Uphold
Bitstamp
Interactive brokers
BitMart
OKX
Step 3: Subpoena.
Cryptocurrency exchanges are regulated like banks & held to the same know-your-customer (KYC) & anti-money laundering (AML) standards. Exchanges are subject to subpoenas. Submitting subpoenas is a straightforward process if you have an existing case where financial discovery is involved. Coordinate with your attorney and provide the registered agents for any exchanges found on financial documents. If no exchanges are explicitly available, we recommend sending subpoena requests to the top exchanges in the USA by user counts: Coinbase, Binance US, Robinhood, Paypal, Crypto.com, Kraken, and/or Gemini.
To subpoena an exchange, find their registered agent in your state. A common mistake is sending requests to the corporate legal department. For your state, simply use your Secretary of State business lookup. See below for a brief video demonstrating how to find registered agents. This sample video was done on the Indiana Secretary of State Business Registry, but the same process applies to most jurisdictions.
Note: Heartland has one of the largest databases of exchanges, registered agents, & legal processes.
When you’ve completed these steps, you should have more information about whether or not cryptocurrency is involved in your disputed assets. Your next step is to review the individual transactions in the account to determine if there is foul play, money laundering, or other attempts to hide assets. Read on for more information.
Need an expert on your side?
Heartland Blockchain Advisors offers free consultations for those looking to find hidden cryptocurrency in divorces and other legal & business disputes.
Contact us at the link below to meet with us for no cost. We’ll collaborate to identify red flags in your case’s records and if an investigation is needed.
