The bill was first introduced in September 2022, and it’s now in the final stages of approval.
A new UK bill targeted at illegal crypto seeks to allow local authorities to seize and confiscate crypto assets faster is close to being approved.
The bill may contribute millions to public funding by empowering the police and other agencies to seize as quickly as possible.
UK bill nears approval
The UK is closing in on enacting the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill later this year.
It was first introduced in September 2022. Since then, the House of Commons and House of Lords have had a look. The bill is at the final stages of approval.
This bill would give local courts and law enforcement agencies powers to seize and freeze crypto they believe is linked to money laundering, drug trafficking, cybercrime, and terrorism.
Read more: UK Treasury agrees on co-supervision with Bank of England regarding regulating stablecoins
It would reportedly be particularly useful in cases where “assets have been identified, significant links to criminality can be proven, but the subject of the investigation is unlikely to face justice in the UK.”
Local authorities in the UK have been involved in seizing hundreds of millions of crypto linked to crime. But the bill would be particularly effective in preventing the movement of targeted assets faster by scrapping some legal bureaucracy, which includes the requirement of arrest before cops can seize tainted crypto in criminal cases.
The bill’s site mentions October 18 as the date for the consideration for amendments.
Cops in the UK have already seized cryptocurrency valued at millions of pounds. Police authorities reportedly recovered more than £300 million ($371 million) in cryptocurrency linked to illicit activities, according to a 2022 article in The New Scientist. The Metropolitan Police of London seized about £180 million ($223 million) in bitcoin in 2021.
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