Finding Hidden Cryptocurrency in a Divorce

The discovery challenge

Centralized exchange records (Coinbase, Kraken, Gemini) follow subpoena like a bank — they show fiat-in, fiat-out, and the wallet addresses funds went to. What they don't show is what happens after the funds leave: transfers between self-custody wallets, on-chain swaps to other tokens, moves to a different chain. That's where blockchain forensics begins.

Once you have one address — from a Coinbase 1099 line, a tax return attachment, a screenshot in evidence — every transaction tied to it is visible on the public ledger. The platform follows funds from that address through counterparties, on-chain swaps, bridges, and back to exchange off-ramps, and produces a sealed, hash-anchored record of the trail.

What the report contains

Every investigation produces:

• A timeline of address activity (deposits, withdrawals, counterparties, token transfers) with block-confirmed timestamps.
• Counterparty attribution where available: known exchanges, custodians, DEX routers, sanctioned services. Honest "unattributed" labels where the counterparty is unknown.
• Risk findings (sanctions hits, mixer interactions, indirect illicit exposure) each linked to its substrate rule and a SHA-256 evidence hash.
• A Certificate of Authenticity prepared to support self-authentication under FRE 902(13) and 902(14), with a QR self-verifier on the integrity page — opposing counsel can scan it from the paper and re-verify the hash chain in their browser.
• A corroboration CSV: every address and transaction hash referenced in the report, each linked to the public block explorer for the chain, so any independent party can re-trace the same path from scratch.

The honest scoping

The platform supports AI investigation on 7 live blockchain networks today — full status at /chains. That includes Ethereum and Tron (USDT-TRC20, by volume the most common stablecoin used for hiding value), plus several EVM networks where exchange off-ramps consolidate.

What the platform does not do: defeat privacy-mixer techniques (Tornado Cash, CoinJoin) by itself, recover keys, or seize funds. What it does do is build a defensible record of what the chain shows, in a form you can hand to a judge — and identify the off-ramps where a discovery request to a centralized exchange is likely to recover further information.

Tooling cannot substitute for legal strategy. The platform produces evidence. You decide what to do with it.

How we're engaged

A forensic-accounting engagement for crypto tracing typically runs in the five figures, billed by the hour. ForensicBlock is engaged differently — scoped per matter on a Statement of Work, with a free preliminary trace so you can see the on-chain signal before any fee is quoted. No annual contract. No vendor gatekeeping.

The point of per-matter scoping is not that it replaces a forensic accountant — it's that you can start with the AI trace, see what the chain actually shows, and then decide whether the matter warrants further engagement. Most divorce cases don't need a full forensics workup. They need an honest read on what's on-chain.

For the deeper read

Our guide How to Find Hidden Cryptocurrency in a Divorce: The 2026 Guide walks through the practical workflow: getting the first address into evidence, following on-chain flows, identifying exchange off-ramps that respond to subpoena, and presenting the trail to the court in a form that survives Rule 702 challenge.