UK court hears Bitcoin debt repayment case; judge leans toward converting to GBP for compensation

Odaily reported that the Central London County Court heard the Hussain v Fix case on June 18. The plaintiff claimed that both parties had agreed to reimburse business expenses using Bitcoin and demanded the defendant repay 7.806501396 BTC. As the defendant did not appear to contest, the court focused on whether it had the authority to order the debt to be repaid directly in Bitcoin. The judge stated that although English law has recognized Bitcoin as property, he was uncertain whether the court had the power to issue a judgment for direct Bitcoin payment and leaned toward converting the amount to GBP compensation based on the price at the time of hearing. This case is regarded as the first time an English court has directly addressed whether BTC can be used for debt repayment, highlighting the legal gaps in enforcing related contractual obligations even after digital assets are recognized as property.