The U.K.’s National Crime Agency (NCA) is assembling a dedicated crypto unit.
According to a post on the government’s jobs board, the NCA, a national agency that investigates organized crime, cybercrime and economic crime, among other criminal activities, is putting together a specialized crypto cell as part of its National Cyber Crime Unit (NCCU).
The NCCU crypto cell “will be dedicated to a proactive cryptocurrency remit with the right tools and capabilities to target UK-based subjects,” a job posting for the role of “cryptocurrency investigator” states.
The move comes as the government is legislating to give law enforcement greater powers to investigate and seize digital assets as part of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill.
During a debate on the bill in October, Andrew Gould, a detective chief superintendent with the City of London police who runs a cyber-crime program for the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), said that “cryptocurrency tactical advisers,” were stationed in police forces across the country.
Related: What the UK’s Economic Crime Bills Mean for Anti-Money Laundering Fight
“There are now officers in every force and every regional organized crime unit who are trained and equipped to [investigate crypto crimes],” he told parliament.
Although Gould said that U.K. law enforcement had seized “hundreds of millions of pounds worth of cryptocurrency assets within the last year or so,” he highlighted mounting costs associated with the tools crypto investigators used as a concern for police forces’ continued efforts.
“One of the providers is currently quoting $60,000 to $80,000 per license,” he said, adding that such prices were “unachievable, or unsustainable for policing.”
What’s more, Gould pointed to the high demand for talent in the wider crypto space as an additional challenge that makes hiring the necessary investigators difficult.
“One of my sergeants has just been offered 200 grand to go to the private sector. We cannot compete with that,” he stated, adding that being unable to retail talent “is probably the biggest risk that we face within this area at the moment.”
Gould’s concern is valid considering that the NCCU position is advertised with a salary of 40,209 pounds to 43,705 pounds ($48,457 to $52,670). In comparison, crypto investigator roles in the financial sector are frequently advertised in the $100,000+ range.
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