Here is your twice-weekly round-up of UK crypto news, explained in plain English for beginners.
After climbing above £62,000 last week, Bitcoin pulled back sharply on May 8 and 9, dropping below $80,000 and settling at around £57,879 today. The trigger was a fresh round of US airstrikes on Iran, which sent oil prices briefly above $100 a barrel and pushed investors out of riskier assets, including crypto.
This is a pattern worth understanding. When global tensions spike, investors tend to move money into safer places, like government bonds or gold, and out of assets that can move sharply in either direction. Crypto falls into that second category. The sell-off was fast: around $300 million in leveraged crypto bets were liquidated within hours as traders who had borrowed money to hold crypto were forced out of their positions when prices fell.
That word — leveraged — is worth pausing on. Some traders do not just buy crypto with money they have. They borrow extra funds to buy more, hoping to amplify their gains. When prices drop suddenly, those borrowed positions get closed automatically, which creates a cascade of selling that pushes prices down even further. This is one reason crypto can move so fast in a downturn.
For UK crypto news readers who are just starting out, this week is a useful reminder that crypto prices do not follow a straight line. Bitcoin went from around £37,000 in January to a high of £62,000 last week, and it has now pulled back to £58,000. That is still a big gain over four months, but the daily swings can be uncomfortable if you are not expecting them.
Takeaway: Never invest money you cannot afford to leave untouched through a downturn. If you panic-sell when prices drop, you lock in a loss. Price dips happen regularly in crypto, often triggered by events that have nothing to do with crypto itself.
Source: Bitcoin retreats below $80,000, liquidating $300 million in futures bets – CoinDesk
New to crypto and not sure how prices work? Our guide at how to invest explains the basics without the jargon.
Ten people appeared in court this week after coordinated police raids across England on April 29. Officers from the Eastern Region Special Operations Unit, supported by Kent Police, the Metropolitan Police, City of London Police, and officers from Yorkshire, hit addresses in Chelmsford, Enfield, south London and Wakefield simultaneously at 6am. The suspects are accused of running a scheme that tricked victims into handing over their crypto wallet seed phrases, then draining their funds.
A seed phrase — also called a recovery phrase — is a list of 12 or 24 random words that acts as the master key to your crypto wallet. Anyone who has your seed phrase can access every coin inside that wallet and transfer it out instantly. Unlike a bank transfer, there is no way to reverse a crypto transaction once it has gone through.
The suspects allegedly called victims while pretending to be police officers or staff from cryptocurrency companies. They convinced victims there was a problem with their account or that their funds were at risk, then talked them into revealing their seed phrase as part of a supposed security check. Once they had the phrase, the victims' wallets were emptied. One victim alone lost more than £300,000. Three of the suspects are currently in custody; the other seven were released on bail. All ten are due in court at Chelmsford Crown Court on May 28.
This scam works because it exploits panic. When someone calls claiming to be the police or your crypto exchange and says your account is in danger, it is natural to want to fix it quickly. Scammers rely on that urgency. The detail they are almost always after is your seed phrase, because that is the only thing they need.
Takeaway: Your seed phrase is the single most important thing to protect. No police officer, no crypto exchange, and no legitimate company will ever ask for it. If anyone calls, messages, or emails asking for it — for any reason — hang up and report it to Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040 or via reportfraud.police.uk.
Want to know how to keep your crypto secure? Visit our resources page for guidance on wallets, seed phrases and avoiding scams.
Since 1 January 2026, every crypto exchange, broker and custodial wallet provider operating in the UK has been legally required to collect and report your transaction data directly to HMRC. This is UK crypto news that affects every person in the country who buys, sells or holds crypto — whether or not they have ever filled in a tax return.
The rules come from something called the Cryptoasset Reporting Framework, or CARF, developed by the OECD, which is the international body that coordinates tax policy between wealthy countries. Under CARF, platforms like Coinbase, Kraken and any other UK-regulated exchange must collect your full name, date of birth, address, National Insurance number and a complete record of every transaction you make. That includes every buy, sell, swap and transfer. The first reports covering 2026 activity are due to reach HMRC by 31 May 2027.
From 2027, HMRC will share this data automatically with tax authorities in other countries, including across the EU. The intention is to make it impossible to hold crypto offshore and avoid reporting it for UK tax purposes.
This does not mean you owe tax just for owning crypto. You only owe capital gains tax (CGT) if you sell, swap or spend crypto and make a profit above your annual CGT allowance, which is currently £3,000. But it does mean that HMRC will have a detailed record of your activity and will be able to check it against what you report, or flag it if you report nothing at all.
If you have made gains from crypto in previous years and have not declared them, HMRC has opened a voluntary disclosure facility that lets you come forward before a formal investigation begins. Coming forward voluntarily typically results in lower penalties than being investigated.
Takeaway: HMRC now gets your crypto data automatically from exchanges. If you have made gains above £3,000 in the 2025 to 2026 tax year, you need to declare them on a self-assessment tax return. If you are unsure whether you owe tax, speak to an accountant who handles crypto, or use HMRC's online guidance at gov.uk.
Source: Implementation of the Cryptoasset Reporting Framework (CARF) – GOV.UK
Not sure how crypto tax works in the UK? Our glossary has plain-English explanations of capital gains tax, CGT allowances and how HMRC treats different types of crypto transactions.
NoobCrypto is an information site only. Nothing in this post is financial advice. Cryptocurrency is high risk. Always do your own research.