Crypto Was One of the Biggest Money Laundering Risks in 2022-2023: UK Govt. Report

As a seasoned crypto investor with a keen interest in regulatory developments, I find the U.K. government’s recent report on money laundering risks particularly noteworthy. Having closely followed the evolution of this space and witnessed its increasing mainstream adoption, I am all too aware of the potential risks associated with it, especially in terms of money laundering and other illicit activities.

As a crypto investor, I’ve come to realize that cryptocurrency firms held a significant risk of being targeted for money laundering activities during the years 2022 and 2023, according to a recent report published by the government’s financial authority on Wednesday.

Based on the risk evaluations conducted by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) on a total of 238 companies, the findings in the report were derived. The FCA is a financial regulatory body based in the United Kingdom, mandated to oversee crypto firms’ registration and adherence to its anti-money laundering regulations since 2020.

The country has been actively combating cryptocurrency-linked criminal activities in recent times. In October 2022, U.K. law enforcement announced the deployment of specialized advisors nationwide to facilitate the confiscation of digital assets linked to crimes. According to the National Police Chiefs’ Council, they successfully seized hundreds of millions in crypto value from various illicit activities during this period.

The recently unveiled report indicates that during the transition from 2022 to 2023, approximately 52.8 full-time equivalents of financial crime specialists were allocated by the FCA for anti-money laundering oversight. Among these specialists, around 15.8 focused specifically on supervising crypto businesses.

During this timeframe, larger oversight groups outside the financial crime units examined and initiated 95 investigations involving crypto-assets.