Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has been made of police and enforcement capacity to investigate cryptocurrency-related crimes, including scams, ransomware payments, and illicit trading platforms.

The UK government has strengthened UK policing capabilities to tackle cryptocurrency-related crime effectively.

Through the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act (2023), law enforcement agencies (LEAs) gained new powers to seize illicit cryptoassets. As set out in the UK’s National Risk Assessment (NRA) of Money Laundering (ML) and Terrorist Financing (TF) 20251, this is supported by the recruitment of 475 new financial investigators across UK law enforcement, investment in advanced crypto forensic tracing technologies for LEAs, provision of specialist training for officers in crypto investigations and the creation of public-private operational crypto partnerships. Together, these measures enhance the UK’s ability to investigate cryptoasset crimes of all types and confiscate criminal proceeds.

This year LEAs also received £3.2m of additional funding through the Asset Recovery Incentivisation Scheme (ARIS) Top Slice grant to tackle crypto crime through innovative projects which further build capability within the LEA system. A further c£3.9m of funding is committed for next year. Monitored by the Home Office, these projects strengthen efforts to investigate and seize crypto attributed to crime.

The Home Office is developing legislative proposals to counter ransomware, which will provide law enforcement and operational partners with a robust evidence base and understanding of the ransomware payment landscape to support investigations and wider activity. The UK has led significant disruptions against ransomware gangs and their criminal ecosystem. In October 2024, we sanctioned 16 members of the prolific cyber-crime gang, Evil Corp, and in February 2025, UK sanctions targeted ZSERVERS, a prolific Russian cybercrime entity responsible for facilitating crippling ransomware attacks globally.

The Government will also soon publish a new fraud strategy designed to tackle all types of scams, including those involving cryptocurrencies.

1National risk assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing 2025 - GOV.UK