UK bill focused on seizing illegal crypto moves to final stages

The bill will make it easier for law enforcement to seize crypto used in crimes

article-image

VAKS-Stock Agency/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill is making its way through the final stages of approval after going through the House of Lords.

The UK bill, initially introduced in September of last year, would expand authorities’ abilities to seize and freeze crypto used in crimes including money laundering and drug trafficking.

It has passed through both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, meaning that it just has to go through a consideration of amendments in the House of Commons before it is made law through Royal assent. Essentially, King Charles will formally agree to make it law.

According to the bill’s site, the consideration of amendments is scheduled to take place on Oct. 18.

“We hope we can ensure that enforcement takes place once it is on the statute book, so that dirty money can be exposed, illegal assets can be seized, and action is taken against those who are guilty of economic crime. We must not have further delay in pushing for transparency and action in tackling economic crime,” Labour MP Rushanara Ali said according to a transcript.

The legislation would link to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, which “sets out the legislative scheme for the recovery of criminal assets with criminal confiscation being the most commonly used power.” The new legislation would make it easier for authorities to seize and freeze crypto linked to criminal activities.

The UK has been cracking down on crypto, from ads to crypto transaction reporting. In July, it threw out a proposal to regulate crypto trading and investing like gambling.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Featured.png

Research

Helium stands at a pivotal moment in its evolution as a decentralized wireless network, balancing rapid growth, economic restructuring, and global expansion. With accelerated growth in domestic DAUs and Hotspots supporting its network, Helium is leveraging strategic partnerships and innovative proposals to scale internationally. The recent implementation of HIP 138, “Return to HNT,” has unified its token economy under HNT, simplifying participation and strengthening liquidity, while HIP 139’s phase-out of CBRS refocuses efforts on scalable Wi-Fi offload. Meanwhile, governance shifts under HIP 141 raise questions about centralization as Nova Labs consolidates control over the roadmap.

article-image

The Arbitrum-based perps DEX recently launched its points campaign

article-image

P2P Foundation founder Michel Bauwens revealed this week that Satoshi wrote him over email in the early days of Bitcoin

article-image

A Blockworks Research report looked at how Hyperliquid has maintained its hype and how it can build out its businesses

article-image

Dragonfly’s Rob Hadick discussed how the firm is approaching investments in the current market

article-image

The asset surged over the past seven days to reach its highest-ever weekly close on the SOL/ETH pair

article-image

Industry watchers note that SOL ETFs have attracted a fraction of the demand for bitcoin and ether ETFs