Why the UK government could be set for £5 billion boost

Rachel Reeves is reportedly eyeing a £5bn windfall from the sale of seized cryptocurrency to help fill a gap in public finances.

The Home Office is working with police forces to offload at least £5bn worth of Bitcoin and other digital currencies confiscated from criminals.

Plans are being developed for a 'crypto storage and realisation framework' to securely store and facilitate the sale of these frozen digital assets.

This potential funding addresses a £5bn spending gap, partly due to Labour's U-turn on planned benefit cuts, with a larger shortfall of up to £20bn also anticipated.

While some critics oppose the sale, comparing it to Gordon Brown's gold sale, others argue it represents a significant untapped revenue source for the UK.