This post has been previously published by The Times.

A senior cybercrime officer has warned that luxury flats being sold for bitcoin could be exploited by criminal gangs.

Nigel Leary, a director at the National Crime Agency, said that he had significant concerns about bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies being used for large purchases such as property or private jets.

Leary, deputy director of the NCA’s National Cyber Crime Unit, said the big-volume cryptocurrency payments were often linked to organised crime and there were not usually enough safeguards for such purchases.

His warning comes after the developer Nick Candy said he would take offers in bitcoin and ethereum for an 18,000 sq ft five-bedroom penthouse on sale for £175 million in the One Hyde Park development in Knightsbridge.

Private jet operators have also been reporting that a growing number of their flights are paid for in bitcoin. The British global operator PrivateFly reported in February that one in ten of its flights were paid for in bitcoin in January, representing 20 per cent of its sales.

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