Keith Oliver

The crypto-crackdown: a sign of more regulation to come?

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Since the mining of the bitcoin Genesis Block on 3 January 2009, cryptocurrencies have provided a wealth of innovative fiscal opportunities for tech savvy consumers across the globe. However, as with most shiny new things, bad actors have simultaneously worked to exploit these products for illicit purposes. In the early days of the digital assets’ […]

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Will the FCA seize client assets from unregistered crypto exchanges?

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Last month, the FCA announced the arrest of two people suspected of running an illegal cryptoasset exchange business. The suspects were interviewed under caution, and their digital devices seized, before being released on bail pending an investigation. The FCA, working with the Metropolitan Police Service, is investigating the business for allegedly buying and selling cryptoassets, […]

Charlotte Tregunna

What’s next for UK crypto regulations after Coinbase’s $4.5 million fine?

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Last week, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) fined CB Payments Limited (CBPL), the UK arm of Coinbase, about £3 million ($4.5 million) for repeatedly breaching a requirement that prevented it from offering services to high-risk customers. According to the FCA, CBPL does not undertake cryptoasset transactions for customers, but acts as a gateway to trade […]

Charlotte Tregunna

FCA busts suspects in £1 billion illegal crypto asset business

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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), working with the Metropolitan Police Service, conducted and operation to arrest two individuals suspected of running an illegal cryptoasset exchange. The regulator said that more than £1 billion of unregistered cryptoassets are believed to have been bought and sold through this business. During searches at two London properties, the police […]

Charlotte Tregunna

If Craig David made court cases…

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WELL, that was a whirlwind wasn’t it? Tornado Cash (TC) developer Alexey Pertsev, guilty of money laundering on Tuesday, off to prison on Wednesday, appealing to the Court of Appeal in Den Bosch on Thursday. I appreciate that you might think I am about to recite the remainder of the Craig David song, “7 Days”. […]

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Thawing out: is the crypto winter over?

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As regulators seem to have reconsidered their once icy stances towards new crypto products and with the courts flexing their muscles with regard to crypto criminality, crypto winters seem a thing of the past. A new era of digital assets beckons. In this article for IFLR, Keith Oliver and Amalia Neenan FitzGerald dissect recent crypto […]

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The fast food worker who helped a fugitive launder stolen bitcoin billions

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Last month, an ex-takeaway worker was convicted in laundering the proceeds thanks to which she had gone from living above a Chinese restaurant to a multi-million pound house in an affluent neighbourhood in North London. After a two-month trial, Jian Wen was found guilty at Southwark Crown Court of an offence relating to money laundering. […]

Keith Oliver

High Court rules that self-proclaimed bitcoin creator is not ‘Satoshi Nakamoto’

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Earlier this month, and after a six-week trial, the High Court ruled that Australian computer scientist Dr Crag Wright did not create bitcoin and neither did he author the Bitcoin White Paper. Even for an industry long accustomed to controversy and to hitting the headlines, the verdict can be seen as a watershed moment. Wright […]

Keith Oliver

Only regulation can set crypto free

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Several spectacular recent debacles have left the crypto world reeling, including the collapse of the FTX exchange over a year ago or the current unfolding of Binance, not to mention the legal actions against the founder of the first and the co-founder of the second. In this article for The Times, Keith Oliver and Amalia […]

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Amendments to POCA and crypto-related civil recovery powers: all roads lead to recovery?

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Between 2022 to 2023, civil forfeiture and recovery powers under Part 5 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (POCA) contributed £160.1 million to the public purse. With criminal confiscation powers bringing in £179 million, the amount recouped using civil rather than criminal asset recovery powers equates to just under half of the total asset […]