June 18, 2026
Richard Hill KC and Nicola Timmins successfully acted for the Defendant in this landmark cryptocurrency case before the DIFC’s Digital Economy Court.
The case concerned a Bitcoin transaction taking place on the premises of Tabarak, a DIFC registered financial services firm. Tabarak was to play an intermediary role. On the day of the transaction the principals to the transaction directed an alteration to the mechanics by which the Bitcoin transfer was to take place. In the course of the subsequent transaction the Bitcoin were fraudulently abstracted, and lost to both the seller (the Claimants) and Tabarak as intermediary.
The Claimants failed at first instance in their various claims against Tabarak for breach of contract, negligent breach of duty, breach of fiduciary duty and bailment. The Claimants appealed and in 2024 the DIFC Court of Appeal dismissed the Claimants’ appeal on all but one issue, which was remitted to the Court of First Instance for determination: whether a contract had been formed at the meeting when the transaction took place.
The Court of Appeal decision was a landmark decision for the digital assets industry, and was the first cryptocurrency case to come before the Court of Appeal.
The re-trial raised a number of important issues relating to digital assets, including what obligations apply to an intermediary facilitating a crypto transaction, and whether damages can be awarded in a cryptocurrency.
On 17 June 2026 the Court handed down its judgment finding that a contract had been formed, but that the contract imposed on Tabarak no greater obligation than a duty to exercise reasonable care (and not a strict liability for the loss of the Bitcoin as argued by the Claimants). As the Court of First Instance at the original trial had already found that Tabarak had exercised reasonable care, the Claim was dismissed.
The Court did not need to go on to grapple with the question of whether it can award damages in a cryptocurrency – a question of great significance to the value of a damages award given the historic appreciation and volatility of cryptocurrencies between facts giving rise to claims and judgments. Determination of that issue will have to wait for another day.
Richard Hill KC and Nicola Timmins, together with Bushra Ahmed and instructed by KBH acted for the successful Defendant.
Read the judgment here.
