The UK National Crime Agency has revealed it is establishing a specialised crypto unit as part of its National Cyber Crime Unit.
According to PYMNTS, the move comes as the government is legislating to give law enforcement greater powers to investigate and seize digital assets as part of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill.
A post on the government’s jobs boards stated that the NCCU crypto cell will be dedicated to a ‘proactive cryptocurrency remit with the right tools and capabilities to target UK-based subjects’.
The role will also require the individual to provide strategic and tactical advice to investigators in dealing with cases involving crypto, supporting both existing and new investigations. The position requires experience in identifying and recovering seed phrases alongside advanced tracing through blockchains.
Back in October 2022, City of London detective chief superintendent Andrew Gould stated during a debate on a bill that ‘cryptocurrency tactical advisers’ were stationed in police forces across the UK.
He told parliament, “There are now officers in every force and every regional organized crime unit who are trained and equipped to [investigate crypto crimes.”
While Gould claimed that UK law enforcement had seized hundreds of millions of pounds worth of cryptocurrency assets in the last year or so, he highlighted that mounting costs associated with the tools crypto investigators used as a concern for continued efforts of police forces.
He said, “One of the providers is currently quoting $60,000 to $80,000 per license” These prices, he added, were “unachievable, or unsustainable for policing.”
Federal bank regulatory agencies recently issued a joint statement to highlight key risks for banking organisations associated with crypto-assets and the crypto-asset sector.
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