- Earlier this week, the United States recovered $3.6 billion in stolen Bitcoin.
- Last year, NFT’s made multimillion-dollar sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s.
The UK’s tax agency seized three non-fungible tokens worth 1.4 million pounds ($1.9 million) as part of a suspected case of value-added tax fraud, the first internal legal action of its sort in the country. The authorities said three persons had been detained on suspicion of cheating the government by using a network of 250 fictitious firms. Along with the NFTs, authorities confiscated additional crypto assets worth an estimated 5,000 pounds.
Nick Sharp, HMRC’s Deputy Director of Economic Crime said:
“Our first seizure of a Non-Fungible Token serves as a warning to anyone who thinks they can use cryptoassets to hide money from HMRC.”
Swift Rise of NFT Sector
Cryptocurrency traders and art collectors alike embraced NFTs, a sort of digital asset that can be exchanged on blockchain networks. Last year, NFTs made multimillion-dollar sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s. A study of NFTGo data by crypto research company Messari found last month that the market is worth a total of around $16 billion.
The Ethereum cryptocurrency is often used to buy and sell the tokens that represent ownership of digital artifacts like music or images. Digital avatars, such as those from the Bored Ape Yacht Club or CryptoPunks, are among the most popular forms of these collectibles. Celebrities like Paris Hilton, Reese Witherspoon, and Serena Williams have recently shown interest in these assets, which may be worth millions of dollars.
Earlier this week, the United States recovered $3.6 billion in stolen Bitcoin in its biggest financial seizure ever, illustrating law enforcement’s intention to establish cryptocurrency is not a secure location for criminal activities.
