Husband who lost W300m on crypto demands split based on old property value as apartment nearly triples

A woman going through a divorce has sought legal advice after her husband demanded that their shared apartment — bought partly with her mother's retirement savings and now worth nearly three times its original price — be divided based on its old value, while also asking her to split the 300 million won ($224,000) debt he ran up on cryptocurrency investments made without her knowledge.

The woman, identified only as A, shared her situation Wednesday on YTN Radio's legal advice program "Jo In-seop's Counseling Center." She said she has been married for seven years and is raising an elementary school-age son.

According to A, her husband grew up in difficult circumstances in the provinces and met her while working in Seoul.

In 2019, after registering their marriage and having their first child, the couple won a lottery spot for a special supply unit for newlyweds at a Seoul apartment complex. The pre-sale price was 600 million won, but they were 60 million won short of the down payment, so A's mother covered it using her retirement funds.

Because salaried workers find it easier to secure loans, the apartment was registered in the husband's name, and the interim construction loan was also taken out under his name.

"My husband was overjoyed, saying he finally had a home in Seoul and had achieved his dream," A recalled. "He said it was all thanks to having a good wife, and that made me happy too."

But as property prices rose, his attitude changed. He began spending his evenings absorbed in real estate YouTube channels and started saying more and more often, "This is my house."

He then became drawn to virtual assets. In 2022, without consulting his wife, he took out a 300 million won loan against the apartment and invested it in cryptocurrency, losing most of it.

A filed for divorce in early 2023.

As the case dragged on, the apartment's value surged — from 900 million won at the time the suit was filed to close to 1.8 billion won.

The husband then argued that the assets should be divided based on their value in 2022, when the marriage broke down, rather than at current market prices. He also called for any capital gains tax that would arise from a sale to be deducted in advance, and for the apartment's assessed government value — rather than its market price — to be used as the basis for calculating the property's worth.

He further claimed that the 60 million won down payment provided by A's mother should be treated as a gift to the couple jointly and split equally between them.

His demands did not stop there. He also asked that the 300 million won debt from his cryptocurrency losses be shared equally by both spouses.

"My mother broke into her retirement savings to put together that down payment, and my husband wants to split even that money fifty-fifty," A said. "And now he's saying I have to help pay off the 300 million won he lost gambling on crypto by himself — I'm absolutely speechless."

Attorney Lee Hyeon-ho said that in principle, when an apartment's value rises during divorce proceedings, the property division is based on the market price at the time the court closes arguments on the merits of the case. "There is no need to deduct capital gains tax in advance for an apartment that has not actually been sold," he said.

Lee added that even though the apartment is registered in the husband's name, the fact that A's mother provided the down payment can be recognized as a contribution in the property division process.

On the 300 million won debt, Lee said that debts incurred by one spouse during a marriage toward a third party are, in principle, treated as that individual's personal debt and are not subject to division — unless they relate to ordinary household expenses or were incurred in the course of building shared marital assets.

"If the husband took out the loan without discussion, for speculative purposes, and suffered a loss, it can be argued that the loan should be treated as his personal debt and excluded from the calculation of assets subject to division," Lee said, adding that securing records of when the loan was taken out, whether the wife was aware of it, and how the funds were used would be critical.