Nick Barnard quoted on the MailOnline in its report that £6million in crypto has been frozen by the courts since new powers came into effect last year

Partner Nick Barnard, has been quoted on the MailOnline in its report that £6million in crypto has been frozen by the courts since new powers came into effect last year.

With criminals increasingly using digital currencies to launder money, dodge taxes and fund terrorism, a crackdown was launched last April on the ’emerging threat’, with police, law enforcement and the HMRC allowed to freeze suspicious cryptocurrency wallets. Under the rules, suspicious crypto wallets can be frozen for up to three years, and frozen stashes can then be seized if a court is satisfied the funds were gained or being used illicitly.

In the article, Nick notes that the figure is not huge ‘in the grand scheme’, compared to the billions in daily crypto transactions worldwide or the amounts seized by authorities from traditional bank accounts. He also highlights that the regime came from a standing start last April, so needs time to get up to speed.

He adds that it is usually only practical to freeze crypto assets held on exchanges or centralised wallet providers, and in the case of the UK crypto wallet freezing regime, only where that organisation has some connection to the UK to enable the powers to be used. 

You can read the full article on the Mail Online.