PANews reported on July 17 that according to The Block, Paul Chowles, a former official of the UK National Crime Agency, was sentenced to five and a half years in prison for stealing 50 seized bitcoins (now worth $5.9 million). The official used his position to steal the bitcoins involved in the case in 2017 and transferred them to cash through a currency mixing service. He was arrested by the police in 2022 with the assistance of blockchain analysis company Chainalysis. The UK has passed a new bill in 2024, authorizing law enforcement agencies to freeze the crypto assets involved in the case without arrest.