Former police investigator Andrew Small has been recruited to help the DBT agency pursue and recover cryptoassets, the presence of which in bankruptcy cases has increased massively in recent years

The Insolvency Service has appointed its first-ever specialised investigator to help recover cryptocurrencies and other virtual assets from collapsed firms.

Andrew Small – who has previously worked for the police pursuing crypto-related cases – has joined the government body to assist with the tracking of virtual currencies involved in criminal cases. He will also “provide the agency with detailed knowledge of the crypto market”, according to the Insolvency Service – which operates as an executive agency of the Department for Business and Trade.

The Whitehall body is required to trace – and, where possible, recovering for creditors – money and other assets owned by companies and individuals that have gone bankrupt or face insolvency proceedings. Small’s recruitment comes following a huge spike in recent years in the number of insolvency cases in which crypto of some kind has been identified in as a recoverable asset.

There were only 14 such insolvencies in the 2019/20 year – a figure that has increased more than fourfold since then, to a total of 59 in 2024/25. The cumulative value of the crypto assets involved in these cases, meanwhile, has risen from £1,400 to £520,000, the service said.

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Small, whose role will sit in the Insolvency Service’s Investigation and Enforcement Services team, said: “There has been a rapid rise in crypto ownership in the UK, and alongside that, we’ve seen a similar rise in cryptoasset ownership in bankruptcy cases. The Insolvency Service has a duty to trace and recover money and assets from individuals or companies in insolvency cases, and we work to return as much money owed to creditors as possible. Crypto is very much a recoverable asset, and my role will help the agency by providing specialist knowledge about the types of cryptoassets available and the associated technology used to buy, sell and store them.”

Citing data from the Financial Conduct Authority, the service said that about seven million adults in the UK now hold some form of crypto asset. This includes mainstream virtual currencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum, alongside an enormous range of smaller coins, as well as non-fungible tokens, which are most often used to confer ownership of digital artworks.

Neil Freebury, head of intelligence at the Insolvency Service, said: “Crypto is growing in popularity, and we’ve seen the number of insolvency cases involving cryptoasset ownership rise four-fold in the past five years. Andrew brings a wealth of knowledge to this role, along with his previous experience as an economic crime investigator within the police, and his appointment will help our investigators dealing with cases where cryptoasset ownership is a factor.”