In a dramatic legal escalation within a high-profile cryptocurrency case, Kirk West, the man accused of stealing millions in XRP from Nancy Jones, the widow of country music legend George Jones, has filed a shocking countersuit. West, who was arrested last year, now claims he is a victim of fraud and defamation and is entitled to half of the very assets he is accused of stealing.
The case, first reported by Decrypt and Rolling Stone, centers on allegations that West stole $400,000 in cash and 5.5 million XRP tokens (worth approximately $11.6 million at the time) from Nancy Jones after their romantic relationship soured in early 2023. The alleged theft was discovered when Jones found her Ledger hardware wallet missing from a safe.
West's countersuit, filed in Williamson County, presents a contradictory narrative. He alleges that his sound financial and cryptocurrency investment decisions were instrumental in building joint wealth during their relationship, which began after he approached Jones following her husband's death in 2013. West claims expertise in crypto investments and states he helped Jones build significant positions in XRP, Ethereum (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE), Shiba Inu (SHIB), and Stellar (XLM), with later purchases on platforms like Crypto.com and Uphold including Terra (LUNA), Flare (FLR), Monero (XMR), and Songbird (SGB).
The countersuit specifically seeks half of the contested assets, which include approximately 483,000 XRP (still unrecovered and valued over $1 million), $5 million in gold and silver bullion and coins, $1 million in cash, and other precious metals. This civil action complicates the ongoing criminal proceedings against West.
Through prior legal action, Nancy Jones has recovered over 5 million of the stolen XRP. The case highlights critical issues at the intersection of cryptocurrency, personal security, and estate planning, emphasizing the physical vulnerability of hardware wallets and the challenges of tracing and recovering digital assets. The legal and cryptocurrency communities are watching closely, as the outcome could set precedents for adjudicating disputes over co-mingled cryptocurrency assets, especially in personal relationships without formal agreements.
