UK police seize $1.4M tied to darknet market activity

A regional UK police force has seized 20.21 Bitcoin and other assets valued at more than $1.4 million after tracing the funds to darknet marketplaces active between 2016 and 2019.

• Police recovered 20.21 BTC, other cryptoassets, and bank funds valued at £1.03 million.
• Investigators traced the holdings to unnamed darknet markets that operated from 2016 to 2019.
• A court forfeited the assets under the Proceeds of Crime Act earlier in 2026.
• The recovery is the force's largest since new crypto freezing powers took effect in April 2024.

Avon and Somerset Police said on Aug. 27 that its Financial Investigation Unit had recovered 20.21 BTC, other digital assets, and money held in a bank account.

The assets had a combined value of £1,032,487.86, or more than $1.4 million, when the police force valued them. Officials did not disclose the amount held in other cryptocurrencies or the bank account, nor did they identify the tokens involved.

Earlier in 2026, a court approved the forfeiture after accepting that the holdings represented proceeds from unlawful conduct. Police pursued the assets under the Proceeds of Crime Act, which allows authorities to recover property obtained through criminal activity.

The unnamed person at the center of the investigation had previously been convicted of money laundering and has since died, according to the statement. Officials did not disclose when the earlier conviction occurred, the offenses connected to it, or whether anyone else was investigated.

At Bitcoin's current price of about $77,570, the 20.21 BTC alone would be worth approximately $1.57 million. The difference from the police valuation may come from the date on which officials calculated the total, as Bitcoin's market price has changed since the assets were forfeited. The force did not provide a valuation date or state whether any of the Bitcoin had been converted into pounds.

Working with the force's cyber team, financial investigators used specialist tracing methods to follow the assets to several darknet marketplaces operating from 2016 through 2019.

Police did not name the platforms but said law enforcement agencies have since closed all of them. According to the force, the marketplaces facilitated offenses ranging from drug distribution to human trafficking.

The period includes several major darknet enforcement operations. The U.S. Department of Justice closed the AlphaBay market in July 2017 after an international investigation involving authorities in the United States, Thailand, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Canada, the United Kingdom, and France.

Dutch police had secretly taken control of Hansa before closing it alongside AlphaBay. Europol said investigators operated Hansa for about one month, allowing them to collect information about vendors and customers who moved to the platform after the AlphaBay takedown.

Dream Market, another large platform from the period covered by the Avon and Somerset investigation, stopped operating in 2019. The police statement did not say whether the recovered Bitcoin passed through AlphaBay, Hansa, Dream Market, or other marketplaces.

Although darknet services can hide the people behind transactions, public blockchain records retain the movement of Bitcoin between addresses. Investigators can combine that transaction history with exchange records, seized devices, and other financial evidence to identify links between wallets and suspected criminal activity.

Detective Constable Anthony Davis of the Financial Investigation Unit said some people believe cryptocurrency can provide anonymity, conceal wealth, and keep assets outside the reach of police. In practice, he said, the blockchain stores a "permanent record of transactions" that can become "an invaluable source of evidence."

Davis added that specialist financial investigation skills had become increasingly important for locating and recovering criminal assets held in cryptocurrencies.

The operation is Avon and Somerset Police's largest cryptocurrency seizure since crypto wallet freezing orders became available in April 2024.

The UK government introduced the new powers through changes to the Proceeds of Crime Act. Police can freeze cryptoassets when they have reasonable grounds to suspect a connection to illegal activity, even when authorities have not made an arrest.

Before the amendments, officers could face limits when trying to take control of digital assets during an investigation. The current rules allow authorities to transfer seized tokens into law enforcement-controlled wallets and recover items that could provide access to the funds, including written passwords and storage devices.

Officers may also destroy a cryptoasset when returning it to circulation would not serve the public interest. When the measures took effect, the UK Home Office identified privacy-focused cryptocurrencies as one type of asset that could require such treatment.

A freezing order does not itself establish that an asset is criminal property. In the Avon and Somerset case, the holdings were forfeited only after a court became satisfied that they came from unlawful conduct.

Money recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act can be directed to policing and community programs. Avon and Somerset Police said the funds may support education, training, early intervention and crime-prevention work.

The British recovery follows several American cases in which investigators used transaction records to locate crypto connected to darknet services.

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