UK Names Crypto Expert to Recover Digital Assets in Bankruptcy Cases

The UK has selected Andrew Small to be the Insolvency Service’s crypto intelligence specialist and help with the recovery of digital assets from bankruptcy and crimes. Since Small has been formerly tasked in economic crime by the police, here she’ll analyze crypto holdings and work to recover as much as possible for the creditors and further assist law enforcement.

ContentsSharp increase in crypto casesNew role to boost recoveryNew crypto reporting rules from 2026## Sharp increase in crypto cases

The Insolvency Service noted a huge rise, amounting to 420 percent, in crypto insolvency cases over the past five years. The number of incidents went up to 59 in the 2024/25 period, compared to just 14 in 2019/20. Identified crypto assets are now valued at more than £520,000 this year, while they were valued at only £1,400 when this started five years earlier.

More Britons holding crypto has lead to the rise as Uniswap is now available in the United Kingdom. At the beginning of 2021, less than 3.2 million adults were using digital assets. An increase in people owning cryptocurrencies can be seen in the rising number of such matters in courts.

The UK Insolvency Service has appointed former police investigator Andrew Small as its first dedicated #crypto intelligence specialist. He will be responsible for tracing and identifying digital assets in bankruptcy and criminal cases. The role, based within the agency’s…

— CryptOpus (@ImCryptOpus) June 9, 2025

New role to boost recovery

He has now been assigned to the Investigation and Enforcement Services team, where he will look into crypto related to financial crash and criminal investigations. He explained that because crypto is recoverable, his work will offer the agency better understanding of the technologies and types of tokens used for digital value transfer and storage. Based on the findings from Official Receiver Service, £523,580 worth of crypto was traced in 59 cases in 2024/25.

Small’s skills are believed to strengthen the Insolvency Service’s practice of handling digital asset recovery. Currently, the agency mainly deals with Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, Litecoin, and NFTs.

New crypto reporting rules from 2026

The UK government plans to introduce strict reporting rules for crypto service providers starting in January 2026. HM Revenue & Customs confirmed that firms must collect and report detailed user and transaction data under the OECD’s Crypto Asset Reporting Framework. Data to be collected includes names, addresses, birth dates, national insurance numbers, tax references, and transaction details such as token types, values, and timestamps. Firms dealing with entity clients must also provide business names, registration numbers, and controlling party information. Penalties of up to £300 per user will apply for non-compliance or incomplete reporting.