The National Economic Crime Centre (NECC) highlighted in its annual report that criminal groups are increasingly using crypto assets to move illicit funds on a large scale. These assets are now ranked third among nine economic crime priorities established by the NECC, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Home Office, and the Treasury as of July 2025.
Organized crime networks are shifting toward outsourcing money laundering to specialized groups. The agency noted that these criminals combine traditional methods with novel techniques, including the use of AI for synthetic identities and process automation to target financial institutions.
In March, the agency conducted Operation Atlantic alongside the U.S. Secret Service and major exchanges like Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, and Tether. This initiative identified 20 000 victims of approval-phishing and resulted in the freezing of $12 million.
Operation Destabilise, which targets networks converting cash into crypto, has led to 129 arrests and the seizure of over £25 million in the UK. The NECC plans to apply this operational model to other high-risk money laundering networks.
A report from the Royal United Services Institute, based on a July 2025 roundtable hosted by the NECC, advises against banning privacy-enhancing technologies. Experts argue that prohibition would drive illicit actors to unregulated services, complicating investigations.
