A new report from the UK's National Crime Agency has found that as much as $5.1 billion worth of illicit crypto transactions are linked to the country every year, with both digital and crypto related crime on the rise.
The agency's findings were published in its annual National Strategic Assessment, which draws on data from law enforcement, government, and private intelligence.
“As the popularity of cryptocurrency grows, so too does the frequency of cryptocurrency crime,” the report stated.
The NCA found that the amount of money laundered in the UK increased over the course of 2023, with criminals increasingly using crypto to do so—adding that the trend is likely to continue throughout 2024.
“Cryptocurrency remains an important facilitator of criminal transactions, for laundering funds, paying for goods and services on the dark web, and making ransom demands,” the report said. “Their legitimate use by the public also provides criminals with fraud and theft opportunities.”
With this rise in crypto money laundering, the National Crime Agency estimates that between $1.7 billion and $5.1 billion worth of illicit crypto transactions annually link back to the UK. Additionally, the report explains that a “significant portion” of money laundering in the UK is linked to “corrupt elites from overseas.”
The NCA formed a specialized crypto unit in 2023 and gained increased seizure powers over cryptocurrency in April 2024, at which time the UK government singled out privacy coins such as Monero as “not conducive to the public good.”
A major case study detailed in the report covers the NCA's role in helping to take down LockBit, a cybercrime group described by Europol as “one of the world's most prolific ransomware gangs.” The syndicate raked in over $120 million in ransom payments from more than 2,000 victims globally, according to the Justice Department, with total demands likely reaching the hundreds of millions.
In February, the criminal group was dismantled as the result of a coordinated campaign from the United States, United Kingdom, and half a dozen other countries. In taking LockBit down, over 200 cryptocurrency accounts linked to the group were frozen, with arrests being made across the globe.