British police confiscate $1.4 million in Bitcoin, traced to a closed dark web market

According to Decrypt, the financial investigation department of the police in Avon and Somerset, UK, has seized 20.21 bitcoins along with other crypto assets and bank account funds, totaling approximately $1.4 million (£1.03 million). Investigators traced the assets to dark web markets that operated between 2016 and 2019, all of which have now been shut down by law enforcement and were involved in criminal activities such as drug supply and human trafficking.

This is the largest cryptocurrency seizure operation by the police since the introduction of the cryptocurrency wallet freezing order in the UK in April 2024. This power allows the police to freeze and seize cryptocurrencies without prior arrests, transferring them to wallets controlled by law enforcement, and seizing written passwords or storage devices. The individuals involved had previous money laundering convictions and are now deceased.

The police pointed out that every transaction processed by these markets is permanently recorded on the blockchain, serving as a valuable source of evidence. The assets were seized earlier this year under the Proceeds of Crime Act, with the court determining that they represented proceeds from illegal activities, and the recovered funds will be used for community and policing projects.