UK Seeks Enhanced Crypto Seizure Power

The British Parliament wants to widen the reach of authorities when it comes to cryptoasset seizures tied to criminal activity

article-image

Houses of Parliament in London | Source: Shutterstock

share

key takeaways

  • The wide-reaching Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill seeks to amend parts of the UK’s Proceeds of Crimes Act
  • Included in the bill’s provisions is a section dedicated to crypto proceeds and sanctions evasion

The UK government has introduced a bill that, among other things, will grant authorities additional powers to seize and recover crypto tied to suspected criminals.

Its Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill pushed through on Thursday seeks to amend several parts of the country’s Proceeds of Crime Act, while also bolstering anti-money laundering powers.

The legislation also represents the largest shakeup to the UK’s registrar of companies, the Companies House, with new powers to check, challenge or decline incorrect or fraudulent company information.

Designed to bolster laws aimed at curbing illicit proceeds, the government’s latest bill also targets sanctions evasion, for instance by Russia and Iran.

“Red tape around confidentiality liability will be eased to enable businesses to share information to more proactively prevent and detect economic crime including fraud and sanctions evasion,” the government said in a separate statement.

The 250-page bill, which has passed its first reading through Parliament, will now undergo a second reading in October before heading to the committee stage for assessment from experts and interested parties.

UK Crypto Regulations

The UK has made several steps to increase its oversight of digital assets and streamline regulation around the nascent asset class this year.

That included the introduction in July of a wide-ranging financial bill designed to phase out hundreds of pieces of EU-retained law and which seeks to regulate “certain types” of stablecoins as a form of payment. 

It would also grant the government new powers to direct regulators to review their financial rules under conditions deemed in the public interest.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 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.

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.

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

An overview of the Base Ecosystem, with a focus on market leaders.

article-image

Although bitcoin hitting $120k by year’s end is looking unlikely

article-image

About 270 million HYPE has been claimed, valued around $7.6 billion

article-image

Stanford professors David Mazières and Dan Boneh will lead the lab alongside a cohort of graduate student researchers

article-image

With more companies holding BTC, bitcoin yielding strategies could become “a new corporate finance norm,” CoinShares posed

article-image

The proposal comes after Polygon governance considered a controversial use of bridged liquidity for yield

article-image

Can the community balance its decentralized ethos with the need for inclusivity and constructive debate?