By Sammie Jones-
The UK’s Metropolitan Police announced on Tuesday that it seized nearly £180 million (around $250 million) worth of cryptocurrency as part of an ongoing investigation into international money laundering.
The new haul comes after a previous seizure of £114 million ($150 million) in cryptocurrency late last month.
“While cash still remains king in the criminal [world], as digital platforms develop we’re increasingly seeing organized criminals using cryptocurrency to launder their dirty money,” said Graham McNulty, deputy assistant commissioner at the Metropolitan Police.
Cops said the seizure was the largest crypto seizure globally, there have been multiple other hauls on a much larger scale around the world. For example, the $1 billion of bitcoin seized by the U.S. government when it shut down the Silk Road marketplace or the $4.2 billion in cryptocurrencies seized by China over the PlusToken scandal.
A 39-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of money laundering during the first seizure and has been interviewed under caution over the second seizure, said the police, adding that the investigation continues.
“Today’s seizure is another significant landmark in this investigation which will continue for months to come as we hone in on those at the centre of this suspected money laundering operation,” said Joe Ryan, detective constable at the Metropolitan Police.
tcoin is trading at just above $33,000 on Tuesday, with many leading cryptocurrencies also seeing a similar price slide. Binance Coin, Ethereum (ether), Ripple (XRP) and dogecoin all fell by between 3-6 per cent overnight.
Rumours online claim that Apple is close to announcing a major investment in bitcoin, though there is currently nothing to substantiate these.
The latest movements have failed to jolt bitcoin out of its recent stasis, with the world’s leading cryptocurrency moving by less than 1 per cent week-on-week. It has failed to break above $36,000 or below $32,000 since late June, though some analysts are hopeful a big move is on its way.
The Bank of England has highlighted the growing trend of increased institutional investment in bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, suggesting that there could be some more big moves into the space in 2021.
The Financial Stability Report, published today, noted how the price of bitcoin rose six-fold in the 12 months leading up to April 2021, prompting institutional investors to take note.
“Market intelligence suggests cryptoassets are largely held by retail investors, with institutional investors having limited exposure at present,” the report states.
“However, there are some signs of growing interest in cryptoassets and related services from institutional investors, banks, and key payment system operators. These developments could increase the interlinkages between cryptoassets and other systemic financial markets and institutions.”
The haul, which the Met Police claims is record-breaking in its size, was of an unspecified crypto. Details of how it was seized are yet to be released.
Metropolitan Police Deputy Assistant Commissioner Graham McNulty said: “While cash still remains king in the criminal world, as digital platforms develop we’re increasingly seeing organised criminals using cryptocurrency to launder their dirty money.”
We’ll have more on this story as it develops.
Forums and social media are abuzz with claims that the tech giant will announce a $2 billion cryptocurrency purchase today, though at this point these are only rumours.
It would make sense for Apple to put it’s vast cash reserves into bitcoin, in the same way that Tesla did, but it would still be a risky move. With nearly $200bn in cash at the last quarterly report, $2bn would be just 1 per cent of the iPhone maker’s holdings. If true, you would imagine that bitcoin’s price would receive a similar bump to when Elon Musk announced Tesla’s crypto investment.
Over the last 24 hours not a single one has seen any price gains, with Ethereum (ether) seeing the biggest losses, according to CoinMarketCap’s index.
On a week-on-week basis only Binance Coin has seen its price rise, while dogecoin experienced the largest dip of more than 10 per cent.
José Luis Ramón said: The idea is that they can strengthen their autonomy and conserve the purchasing power of their remuneration.”
Michael Saylor, CEO of MicroStrategy, noted Argentina’s exchange rate against the dollar has “weakened from 15 to 174 in five years”.
He added: “That means $100 saved in ARS would be worth $8.62 today. If saved in BTC, it would now be worth $5,270. Bitcoin is hope for Argentina.”