The regulators in the United Kingdom (U.K.) have been cautious of the increasing crimes in the nation and have taken steps in that regard too.
Recently, the U.K.’s National Crime Agency (NCA) has been taking measures to increase its focus on cryptocurrency crimes and combat criminals. A unit of the agency dedicated to cybercrime, the National Cyber Crime Unit (NCCU), is launching a special cryptocurrency unit.
The upcoming unit will investigate cyber incidents involving cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. Sources reveal that the unit named “NCCU Crypto Cell” will initially contain five officers dedicated to “proactive cryptocurrency remit.”
Chris Lewis-Evans, the infrastructure investigations director at NCA, briefed the media that “this is a really exciting opportunity which involves working in a team at the forefront of protecting the U.K. from cybercrime.”
Further, acknowledging the need for specialization in matters related to digital assets, he said:
“Cryptocurrency and virtual assets are widely viewed as specialist areas of knowledge, and this role is key to supporting NCA investigations in which these are used to enable serious criminality.”
Sources reveal that as a part of the project, the agency is looking to onboard a crypto investigator with appropriate knowledge of crypto and experience conducting blockchain forensic investigations on serious and organized crime.
The upcoming crypto specialist in the NCA should be required to provide strategic and tactical advice to investigators in dealing with cases involving digital assets and supporting all existing and new investigations. In addition, the designation requires experience in identifying and recovering seed phrases and advanced tracing through blockchains.
As per sources, the candidate would receive an annual salary between 40,200 British pounds ($48,200) and 43,705 pounds ($52,400), and applications are open till January 10, 2023.
This move from NCA aims to increase vigilance and focus on digital assets in the country amid the government’s focus on eliminating dirty money. However, the frauds involving digital assets in the country witnessed a shocking 32% increase, as reported by Todayq News.
In September, the British government also introduced a bill intending to crack down on money laundering and fraud by expanding its authority to seize crypto being used for illegal purposes.
According to Andy Gould, National Police Chiefs’ Council detective chief superintendent, all police forces in the U.K. had all officers trained for investigations involving the seizure of and enforcement of crypto as of October 2022.