Crypto Capabilities: Storage and Realisation

BlueLight Commercial (BLC) are delivering a new national framework agreement on behalf of the Home Office to provide a secure crypto storage and services. This framework will support the delivery of the Economic Crime Plan 2 through provision of secure storage of crypto assets during legal proceedings and ensuring assets can be returned to owners, returned to victims or sold.

UK law enforcement and government departments and agencies are seeing an increase in the use of cryptocurrencies for illicit purposes. This includes to facilitate the commission of a crime, launder the proceeds of crime, or crypto assets being obtained through the commission of crime as a benefit. As with all other areas of criminal investigation, these Assets can be seized under various legislative powers including the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, as amended (POCA), the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE) and the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023. This is an exciting opportunity to provide a centralised, single supplier framework agreement across UK law enforcement and government for a full end-to-end Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) based custody and trading service alongside support services including training.

The supplier must be able to store and manage a wide range of cryptocurrency and also enable the purchase of a variety of crypto assets. The average time between seizure of assets and conclusion of the legal proceedings (realisation) is within 1 year, for more complex cases can be 3 to 4 years. The successful framework supplier will be paid on a commission-only model based on the asset value at the time of realisation.

Note the duration of the framework will be 4 years in the first instance with after such time the Authority may extend the term of the Framework by any number of defined periods, (each period a minimum of 1 year), provided that the total duration of the Framework Term does not exceed eight (8) years. The total estimated framework value is between £800,000 and £40,000,000 (ex VAT) and includes all extensions and possible realisations (up to 8 years), further information is provided in the Stage 1 Briefing Document.