The UK's National Economic Crime Centre warns that criminals are innovatively using cryptocurrency assets for money laundering
According to Decrypt, the UK's National Economic Crime Centre (NECC) warned in its annual report released this week that criminals are "innovatively using cryptocurrency products to evade detection and transfer illegal value on a large scale."The agency is part of the UK's National Crime Agency (NCA) and is responsible for coordinating the UK's response to economic crime. The threat assessment in the report indicates that cross-border money laundering networks are spreading, combining new and traditional methods while transferring funds through both legitimate and illegitimate channels; many organized crime groups no longer launder money themselves but outsource it to specialized networks for a fee. The report also mentions artificial intelligence alongside cryptocurrency, noting that criminals are using synthetic identities and process automation to attack banks.The report shows that cryptocurrency ranks third among the nine economic crime priorities identified by the UK's National Economic Crime Centre, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the Home Office, and the Treasury in July 2025, above cash crime and money mules. The agency states that it is developing "more proactive, intelligence-led cryptocurrency capabilities." Additionally, its joint operation "Atlantic Action" with the U.S. Secret Service, Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, and Tether has identified 20,000 approved phishing victims and frozen $12 million in funds; the "Stable Action" targeting Russian networks converting street cash into cryptocurrency has arrested 129 individuals and seized over £25 million in the UK.The report also mentions a report on privacy-enhancing technologies in the cryptocurrency industry released by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).