Victoria Police Make First Successful Crypto Seizure Under New Law

According to Cointelegraph, the Victoria Police Department in Australia has successfully conducted its first cryptocurrency seizure valued at $142,679. This follows recent amendments to the law that empower police officers to take control of digital assets. The Victoria Police's 2023–2024 annual report, released on October 31, highlights the authorization of new powers through the addition of 'SECT 92A Seizure of digital asset under search warrant' to the Confiscation Act 1997. Since August 1, 2023, this legal change has enabled police officers in Victoria to confiscate cryptocurrencies from criminals using a search warrant. During a significant drug trafficking investigation, the Victoria Police's Cryptocurrency Operations team discovered several cryptocurrency recovery phrases in seized documents. These recovery or seed phrases are secret strings of words linked to specific crypto wallets, which can be used to recover and access their crypto assets. The report noted the authority's first successful cryptocurrency seizure since the legislative changes, stating that detectives accessed six wallets and seized $142,679.10 worth of various cryptocurrencies. The new law provides four methods for police officers to seize crypto assets under a search warrant: accessing storage devices and computers, interfering with storage or communication devices, altering or transferring the crypto assets, and performing transactions that lead to gaining exclusive control of the asset. The Victoria police are authorized to seize any property that contains cryptocurrencies or can help gain access to them, such as hardware wallets. In related developments, local reports in September indicated that Australian regulators are preparing new guidance requiring cryptocurrency exchanges to obtain financial services licenses. According to Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) commissioner Alan Kirkland, these new requirements are necessary because the regulator considers that the Corporations Act captures most major crypto assets like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).