The U.K.'s National Crime Agency (NCA) has called for the regulation of crypto mixing technology that can disguise transactions which would otherwise been traceable on the blockchain, according to a report by the Financial Times.

Also known as "CoinJoin", crypto mixers can be used by criminals to disguise the origin of cryptocurrency through multiple parties contributing many inputs to a transaction, obfuscating the details of its origin."They can be used to provide a "layering" service, churning criminal cash obscuring its origins and audit trail, similar to how a cash business might be used by criminals to legitimize cash through the banking system," Gary Cathcart, the NCA's head of financial investigation, said in an interview with FT published on Tuesday.The NCA wishes for regulation that would require mixers to comply with money laundering laws, carrying out customer checks and audit trails of funds swapping hands on their platforms.CoinJoin usage hit a peak of 65,000 BTC ($2.5 billion) in January 2021, equivalent to 0.35% of the total bitcoin transacted that month.Crypto exchanges and wallet developers such as Wasabi have responded to crypto mixing by barring transactions from their services that facilitate CoinJoins.

Read more: Bitcoin Mixers: How Do They Work and Why Are They Used?