In a bid to address cryptocurrency insolvencies that have occurred in the UK over the past five years, the government has appointed a new dedicated crypto specialist.
The UK government confirmed the appointment of Andrew Small on June 9, who will be tasked with tracking digital assets within criminal cases and providing the UK Insolvency Service with detailed knowledge of the crypto market.
This move follows a 420% increase in crypto-related insolvency cases that have occurred in the UK over the last five years. The government reported 59 insolvency cases in 2024/25, a sharp rise from the 14 cases reported in 2019/20.
At the same time, the estimated value of cryptoassets identified in insolvency cases has risen from over £1,400 in 2019/20, to more than £520,000 in 2024/25.
With Small in this newly created position, he will assist the government in being able to recover money owed to creditors in insolvency cases moving forward, primarily focusing on cryptoasset ownership in criminal cases.
“There has been a rapid rise in crypto ownership in the UK, and alongside that, we’ve seen a similar rise in cryptoasset ownership in bankruptcy cases,” said Small.
“The Insolvency Service has a duty to trace and recover money and assets from individuals or companies in insolvency cases, and we work to return as much money owed to creditors as possible.”
A seamless recovery process?
While there remains scepticism from many external detractors of the crypto sector, particularly when it pertains to crypto-related fraud and money laundering, cryptoassets can be traced in multiple ways.
As crypto runs on public distributed ledger technology (DLT), traded cryptoasset transaction history can be viewed openly, which will allow Small and the UK Insolvency Service to trace cryptoassets which have been lost due to insolvencies.
There are also utilities such as blockchain explorers that can search for any crypto transaction or wallet address available to anyone, as well as other solutions such as address clustering, KYC data, and off-ramp monitoring, to name a few.
“Crypto is very much a recoverable asset, and my role will help the agency by providing specialist knowledge about the types of cryptoassets available and the associated technology used to buy, sell and store them,” added Small.
The news of Small’s arrival at the UK Insolvency Service comes amid growing crypto adoption across the country, as up to 7 million UK adults revealed held some form of crypto in 2024; 12% of the population.
These findings from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) demonstrate the growth of the UK’s crypto sector over the last several years, as institutional investors and crypto advocates continue to call for overarching regulation to enact on this momentum.
