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UK's Top Crime Agency Is Assembling Team of Crypto Experts

The National Crime Agency posted a job for "cryptocurrency investigator."

Updated Jan 4, 2023, 2:20 p.m. Published Jan 4, 2023, 12:16 p.m.

The U.K.'s National Crime Agency is looking for a crypto investigator. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

The U.K.'s national agency for tackling organized crime plans to set up a specialized cryptocurrency and virtual-assets team, according to a civil service job posting.

Applicants for the position of "cryptocurrency investigator" are expected to "provide strategic and tactical advice" in investigations and have "strong experience" in running forensic blockchain investigations on serious and organized crime.

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The role is part of a project to form a crypto and virtual-assets team, according to the job posting. The National Crime Agency’s unit will start with five officers, Financial News reported on Wednesday.

The move to create a crypto-focused law-enforcement team follows a rise in crypto fraud in the U.K. and the National Police Chiefs' Council stationing "crypto tactical advisers" in police departments across the country last year. In November, lawmakers voted in favor of expanding local authorities' powers to seize crypto tied to crime and terrorist activities.

Regulations UK Crime Crypto Fraud

Sandali Handagama

Sandali Handagama is CoinDesk's deputy managing editor for policy and regulations, EMEA. She is an alumna of Columbia University's graduate school of journalism and has contributed to a variety of publications including The Guardian, Bloomberg, The Nation and Popular Science. Sandali doesn't own any crypto and she tweets as @iamsandali