Out-Law News 1 min. read
UK agencies launch joint operation on crypto-based sanctions threats
The CCFC pilot includes officers from the Metropolitan Police. Photo: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
04 Feb 2026, 3:59 pm
A move by UK agencies to join forces in a concerted effort to crack down on crypto asset-based sanctions evasion shows progress in tackling the rising challenge of crypto-based offences, according to a financial crime expert.
A pilot venture between the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), The National Crime Agency, HM Revenue and Customs, the Financial Conduct Authority, and both the City of London and the Metropolitan Police services has been probing breaches of financial sanctions.
It comes amid a new approach to enforcement by OFSI as it puts renewed focus on the most serious sanctions offences.
The Crypto Cash Fusion Cell (CCFC), as the pilot is branded, aims to improve how UK law and regulatory bodies identify and respond to criminal use of cryptoassets.
Crypto assets have increasingly been deployed by sanctions evaders and criminal actors to move and launder illicit funds, but tracing their activity on the blockchain has opened up innovative methods of identifying and stopping criminal activity in the sector.
Intelligence sharing between agencies involved in the CCFC enabled them to target potential breaches of financial sanctions involving crypto assets by UK-based individuals and companies.
The collaboration, which also includes private sector partners such as blockchain analytics providers, capitalised on side-by-side information sharing to turn analysis of cyber activities into operational outcomes.
Hinesh Shah, a financial crime expert at Pinsent Masons, said the development marks “a step change” in how agencies approach the enforcement of crypto‑related sanctions breaches.
“Using crypto assets to evade sanctions is treated no differently from exploiting traditional currencies,” he explained.
“The agencies are signalling a continued readiness to investigate and pursue sanctions offences involving crypto assets, underpinned by increasingly sophisticated intelligence capabilities.
”This recent news demonstrate progress from OFSI's Cryptoassets Threat Assessment report published in July 20205 which emphasised that crypto asset service providers, regulators and enforcement needed deeper information‑sharing, because firms showed inconsistent reporting, limited screening, and patchy detection of sanctions‑linked wallets.”
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