Rosenblatt
  • About
    • Memery Crystal
    • Investors
  • Services

    Services

    Rosenblatt is a disputes powerhouse. Competitive in the best sense, our teams provide incisive specialist expertise and collaborate closely with one another to meet our clients’ needs across the full spectrum of their activities.

    • Dispute Resolution
    • Construction, Engineering and Energy
    • Corporate Investigations
    • Debt Recovery
    • DLT, Digital Assets, and Tokenisation
    • Financial Crime
    • Financial Services
    • Insolvency & Financial Restructuring
    • International Arbitration
    • Probate & Wills
    • Serious & General Crime
    • Tax
    • Non-Contentious & Advisory
  • Insight
  • Events
  • Group Litigation
    • Amazon Legal Action
    • Property Investment Scheme Claims
    • Apple Class Action
  • Contact

Cryptocurrency | UK Police Seize Record £180m of Bitcoin Linked to Money Laundering | Rosenblatt’s Financial Crime Team

22nd July 2021

On 13 July 2021 the Metropolitan Police seized £180m worth of Bitcoin believed to be linked to money laundering. This announcement comes some mere weeks after the Police confiscated what was the previous record set of £114m on 24 June 2021.

Cryptocurrency| Rosenblatt’s Financial Crime Team

A 39-year-old woman, arrested on suspicion of money laundering on 24 June 2021 has been interviewed over the new seizure. She was interviewed under caution before she was bailed to a later date in July.

The Metropolitan Police’s Economic Crime Command made the seizure after following up on intelligence received about the transfer of criminal assets.

DC Joe Ryan stated that, “less than a month ago we successfully seized £114m in cryptocurrency. Our investigation since then has been complex and wide-ranging. We have worked hard to trace this money and identify the criminality it may be linked to.” He further added that the “seizure is another significant landmark in this investigation which will continue for months to come as we home in on those at the centre of this suspected money-laundering operation.”

Bitcoin is an online currency that is created using computer code. The currency is stored in virtual wallets known as blockchains and operates without using banks as middlemen, a form of peer to peer currency exchange which increases anonymity. The currency was invented in 2009 by an individual who called themselves Satoshi Nakamoto, however to date this person has not been found or identified themselves.

One Bitcoin is currently worth £23,500, having fallen from £47,126 at its peak, meaning the £180m confiscated by the Police may have been worth nearly double three months ago.

Within a month the Police have seized almost £300m worth of cryptocurrency. It is likely we will see more cash seizures of this nature as the rise in crimes involving cryptocurrency continues. For more information about the earlier confiscation that took place on 24 June 2021, please see our earlier article.

The Police’s money laundering investigation continues. Our Financial Crime team will provide further updates as they arise.

Rosenblatt can help

Rosenblatt has a wealth of experience in financial crime and is uniquely placed to support clients that are the subject of investigations by the Police having being involved in some of the most high profile investigations into multi-million-pound, cross jurisdictional fraud cases in the UK.

https://www.rosenblatt-law.co.uk/services/financial-crime/#financial-crime

https://www.rosenblatt-law.co.uk/services/serious-and-general-crime/


We at RBG/RBL support and encourage free/independent thinking in relation to issues which are sometimes considered to be controversial subject matters. However, the views and opinions of the authors of articles published on our website/s do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, practices and policies of RBG Holdings/RBL.

Post navigation

The Importance of Normalising the 3 M’s of Female Fertility Issues at Work: Menstruation, Miscarriage & Menopause
COVID-19 | Support Schemes Cost Taxpayers More Than £30bn | Rosenblatt’s Financial Crime Team

Categories

  • Articles
  • News
  • Videos

Topics

  • Banking & Finance
  • Competition & Regulatory
  • Corporate
  • Dispute Resolution
  • DLT, Cryptocurrencies and Crypto Assets
  • Employment
  • Financial Crime
  • Financial Services
  • Insolvency & Financial Restructuring
  • International Arbitration
  • Investigations
  • IP/Technology/Media
  • Real Estate
  • Tax
Rosenblatt
  • +44 (0) 20 7955 0880
  • info@rosenblatt-law.co.uk

Helpful Links

  • Anti-Modern Slavery Statement
  • Complaints Policy
  • Diversity & Equality
  • Interest
  • Pricing
  • Subscribe to our Mailing List

SRA No. 820215, authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Ce Logo
Uk Top Tier Firm 2026

Rosenblatt is a trading name of RBG Legal Services Limited, a company registered in England and Wales (with company number 13287062) and which is authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority under SRA No. 820215. A list of the directors of RBG Legal Services Limited, together with a list of those persons who are designated as partners of Rosenblatt, is available for inspection at the registered office of the company at 165 Fleet Street, London EC4A 2DY.

Rosenblatt uses the word “partner” to refer to a senior employee or consultant. However, Rosenblatt is not a partnership and the use of the term “partner” does not create or imply a partnership amongst or between any of its employees or consultants.

© 2025 Rosenblatt

  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Website by Brighter*IR

link

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

You can find out more about which cookies we are using or switch them off in .

Rosenblatt
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookies should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.

Performance cookies

These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site.

Please enable Strictly Necessary Cookies first so that we can save your preferences!

Cookie Policy

More information about our Cookie Policy.