Texas divorcee turns to crypto lifeline

A Texas mother says cryptocurrency became a financial lifeline during a bitter divorce, allowing her to regain independence after finding herself effectively “unbanked” amid allegations of financial abuse.

Karin, who lives in Fort Worth and asked that her surname be withheld due to ongoing legal proceedings, said she was refused a large cash mortgage payment deposit after learning she had not been listed as a bank account holder for a decade.

“I was unbanked, which is kind of scary because I'm a middle-class housewife in America,”

Karin told Decrypt, adding:

“It's kind of like you're this invisible person.”

As her decades-long marriage unravelled, Karin said holding assets in a self-custodial wallet gave her confidence that only she controlled the private keys, shielding funds from being frozen or restricted during court disputes.

Court documents show she later secured judicial approval to use profits from trading Bitcoin and Ethereum to cover her children’s tuition, after initially resisting an order to liquidate digital assets held on a centralised exchange.