Sweden’s Minister of Justice Makes Critical Statements on Cryptocurrency: Issues New Instructions

Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer has instructed the police, the Tax Office and the Enforcement Office to more effectively identify and seize cryptocurrency assets obtained through crime. Strömmer called for more effective use of the new confiscation law that came into effect in November last year.

Thanks to the new legal regulation, if authorities suspect that a person’s assets are derived from criminal proceeds and the person cannot explain the source of these assets, these assets can be seized without a conviction. “We are calling on the institutions to increase their cooperation and increase the pressure even further, with a particular focus on assets that generate large profits,” Strömmer said.

So far, assets worth 80 million Swedish crowns (about $8.4 million) have been seized. The law also applies to children and mentally ill individuals, according to the Swedish parliament’s website.

The call comes at a time when some MPs in the Riksdag are advocating the establishment of a national Bitcoin reserve, following similar steps in countries such as the United States, the Czech Republic and Italy. Supporting the idea, Dennis Dioukarev from the Sweden Democrats welcomed Strömmer’s statements, saying:

“I support the confiscation of all illegally obtained assets in order to combat crime and make life difficult for criminals.”

Dioukarev said that the confiscated cryptocurrencies should be transferred to the Swedish Central Bank (Riksbank) to create a strategic Bitcoin reserve.

While the number of people connected to criminal networks in Sweden is stated to have reached 62,000 in 2024, drug traffickers and money launderers are reported to use cryptocurrencies to a significant extent.

*This is not investment advice.

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