Sweden makes a strong push to seize criminal assets using cryptocurrency

Swedish Minister of Justice, Mr. Gunnar Strömmer, has just called on domestic authorities to intensify efforts to seize assets from criminal activities, including cryptocurrencies. According to the new asset seizure law enacted last November, authorities can confiscate assets even without proving that the person committed a crime, as long as they cannot clearly explain the origin of the assets.

Mr. Strömmer requested the police, the Tax Agency, and the Enforcement Agency to closely cooperate and focus on high-yielding assets. To date, this law has been used to confiscate around 80 million kronor (8, 4 million USD ) in assets. The law also applies to minors and individuals with severe mental disorders.

In the context of some Swedish lawmakers proposing the establishment of a national Bitcoin reserve fund, this call has received strong support. Lawmaker Dennis Dioukarev from the Swedish Democrats stated that he welcomes any efforts to seize illegal assets to combat crime. He also emphasized that confiscated cryptocurrency assets should be transferred to the Swedish Central Bank to build a strategic reserve fund in Bitcoin – similar to the trend occurring in the US, Czechia, and Italy.