Police Scotland says critical and arranged crime teams are more and more turning to cryptocurrency, contributing to a 2,000% rise in associated instances since 2019.
Police Scotland says it has seen a roughly 2,000% improve in cryptocurrency-related criminality since 2019, as extra critical and organised crime teams are “quick to adapt and utilise new methods to help obfuscate their activities.”
Whereas it’s unclear what number of instances this determine refers to, authorities counsel crypto is enjoying a rising position in fraud and organised crime throughout Scotland. In an annual 2025 report, Police Scotland made it clear it doesn’t but have a devoted crypto crew, however says “development of capabilities outside of cybercrime is progressing.”
Officers have begun utilizing two monitoring and tracing instruments, which reportedly carry them in line “with much of U.K. and leading international law enforcement.” The pressure can also be a part of the nationwide Cryptocurrency Working Group, which appears at “approaches, training and development including designing a training pathway to include expert witness testimony,” the report reads.
The remarks come after a authorized precedent in Scotland, the place prosecutors used proceeds of crime legal guidelines to show stolen cryptocurrency into bodily money. The Excessive Courtroom in Edinburgh accredited the conversion of 23.5 Bitcoin — linked to John Ross Rennie — into £109,601. Rennie was described because the “technical brains” behind a violent theft in Lanarkshire, Scotland.
Officers say a proposed Cyber and Fraud Command will enable for a “refresh of organisational approach and responsibilities in relation to cryptocurrency,” aiming to carry Scotland’s response nearer to that of different U.Okay. jurisdictions with devoted crypto groups.
