Criminals love them, but now enforcement agencies have the statutory tools to fight back, writes Nick Barnard
- On 26 April 2024, amendments to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 came into force, giving law enforcement new tools to freeze, seize or even destroy cryptoassets.
- Explains crypto-wallet freezing orders and crypto-wallet forfeiture orders.
- The new orders are based on the Account Freezing Order regime.
Since their ascent to mainstream attention over the past decade, cryptoassets have proved a vexed challenge for law enforcement agencies (LEAs), particularly those charged with disrupting money-laundering and recovering the proceeds of crime.
Unlike cash (which exists only in physical form) or funds in bank accounts (which are controlled by a regulated third party with established law as to ownership and location), cryptoassets represent a new form of liquid digital value, which can be held and transferred in entirely new ways.
As a starting point, the infrastructure of cryptoassets generally makes no provision for recording or enforcing the ‘owner’ of an asset by reference to natural or legal persons. If the
