The United Kingdom’s National Crime Agency (NCA) is developing a unit that will be in charge of dealing with crypto-crime issues. This group of officials will largely look into dubious financial activities.
According to a job posting on the government’s website, a crypto cell should be established that “will be dedicated to a proactive cryptocurrency remit with the right tools and capabilities to target UK-based subjects.”
The formation of a crypto crime unit follows the loss of $3 billion in cryptocurrency in the UK due to hacks and frauds. It is not surprising that the $3 billion in hacking losses had a big effect on the UK financial sector.
After conducting an investigation, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) discovered that this industry has been a significant contributor to financial scams. Between March 2021 and April 2022, the majority of these scams took place. Within the aforementioned time frame, 432 scams were examined and reported.
Numerous financial frauds of all sorts have thrived in the cryptocurrency business. Large-scale unlawful transactions and money laundering have both been made possible by the sector. Recently, the UK has seen an upsurge in these crimes.
It will be necessary for the team of authorities chosen for the job of cryptocurrency investigator to offer strategic and tactical guidance on how to circumvent such fraudulent actions. The officials should have a lot of expertise in conducting forensic blockchain investigations into large-scale, intentional wrongdoing.
According to reports, only a small portion of the virtual asset teams are responsible for the project’s inquiry. Additionally, the unit of the National Crime Agency will initially consist of five officers.
The UK government has made progress toward approving the sector by 2022, and then-chancellor Rishi Sunak had also made note of his aspirations to establish the UK as a “crypto hub.” Officials in the UK are nonetheless concerned about how the area has turned into a “new front line” for criminals.
Later in 2022, lawmakers approved a bill giving the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) new authority to properly oversee the sector.
According to Chris Lewis-Evans, a manager at the NCA:
Cryptocurrency and virtual assets are widely viewed as specialist areas of knowledge, and [the new roles are] key to supporting NCA investigations in which these are used to enable serious criminality.
Due to the prolonged downturn in this industry, many nations have had to review their regulatory frameworks. The value of some of the biggest market movers, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, has also fallen, prompting regulatory agencies to place a higher priority on protecting consumers from severe volatility.
The collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX in November was another significant event that caused upheaval inside the sector. Recent developments have made it more important than ever for countries to establish suitable regulatory frameworks for the cryptocurrency industry.
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