UK Begins Process of Digitizing Crypto Crime Policing

The focus is on tackling the use of crypto assets in money laundering, whether directly by an offender or on behalf of others, HMRC said in an announcement.

The initiative is at an early stage. HMRC has launched a pre-market engagement exercise to gather information for a future procurement process. Services under consideration include specialist commercial SaaS tools providing investigative, analytical and evidential capabilities, blockchain forensic investigative support to address the complexity of crypto-enabled crime and APIs that allow investigators to query blockchain data at scale.

The capabilities feed into the Fraud Investigation Service, which handles the most serious fraud cases and the Risk and Intelligence Service, which manages risks to the tax system. The total budget is set at just over £4mn, though no implementation timeline has yet been provided.

HMRC is moving in line with a broader international shift toward digital enforcement tools, data analytics and automation. In the US, the Internal Revenue Service has expanded its use of analytics platforms alongside greater emphasis on machine-learning models for fraud detection. Similarly, the Australian Taxation Office uses data matching and predictive analytics to identify non-compliance.

At a global level, 48 jurisdictions have already adopted the OECD Crypto‑Asset Reporting Framework, which requires service providers to report transaction data to tax authorities. The first reports are expected in the first half of 2027, with nearly 30 additional jurisdictions planning to implement the framework by 2029.

The direction of travel is clear: non-compliance is becoming progressively harder. For corporate treasuries and institutional participants in digital assets, compliance is no longer an optional overlay, it is the baseline requirement.