UK Police Seize 20.21 Bitcoin Linked to Darknet Markets

Avon and Somerset Police forfeited 20.21 BTC and other assets worth £1.03 million after tracing them to darknet markets.

Avon and Somerset Police have seized 20.21 Bitcoin and other assets worth more than £1 million after investigators traced the cryptocurrency to darknet marketplaces that operated between 2016 and 2019.

The force’s Financial Investigation Unit said the cryptocurrency, additional digital assets and money held in a bank account had a combined value of £1,032,487.86 when the assets were valued. The person at the center of the investigation had previously been convicted of money laundering and has since died.

Police did not identify the individual or name the darknet markets connected to the cryptocurrency. They said the marketplaces had since been shut down by law enforcement and were known to facilitate criminal activity including drug supply and people trafficking.

The investigation involved specialist cryptocurrency tracing and financial investigation techniques, with assistance from Avon and Somerset Police’s Cyber Team.

Investigators were able to follow the cryptocurrency transactions back to darknet marketplaces operating between 2016 and 2019.

The fact that the Bitcoin was several years old did not prevent investigators from tracing its history. Transactions recorded on the Bitcoin blockchain remain visible, giving investigators a permanent record that can potentially be combined with other financial and digital evidence.

Detective Constable Anthony Davis of the Financial Investigation Unit said the case demonstrated the importance of specialist financial investigation skills when dealing with cryptocurrency.

He also pushed back against the idea that cryptocurrency automatically makes criminal proceeds impossible for police to trace. The recovery is the largest cryptocurrency seizure recorded by Avon and Somerset Police since new crypto wallet freezing powers came into effect in April 2024.

Those powers allow authorities to freeze cryptocurrency when there are reasonable grounds to suspect it is connected to criminal activity.

In this case, the assets were ultimately forfeited earlier in 2026 after a court accepted that they represented proceeds of unlawful conduct under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

The police announcement did not provide a breakdown of how much of the £1.03 million was held in Bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies or the bank account. The case is another example of how old cryptocurrency transactions can remain relevant to law enforcement years after the original activity took place.

The Bitcoin involved was linked to darknet activity nearly a decade ago, but investigators were still able to trace the movement of the funds.

That does not mean every cryptocurrency transaction can automatically be tied to a person. Investigators generally need additional evidence to connect blockchain addresses with real-world identities.

In this case, specialist financial investigators and the police Cyber Team were able to establish that the cryptocurrency and associated funds represented proceeds of unlawful conduct.

The assets have now been forfeited, with proceeds recovered under the Proceeds of Crime Act set to be reinvested into community and police initiatives, including education, training, early intervention and crime prevention.

Sources: Avon & Somerset Police and COINOTAG