KATHMANDU, JANUARY 2 Suspicious transactions of virtual assets, which are considered illegal in Nepal, have increased in recent years. As per the Strategic Analysis Report Related to Virtual Assets, 2025, released by the Financial Information Unit of the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) on Thursday, 658 suspicious transactions of virtual assets were recorded in the last five years. Crypto, stablecoin, utility token, and other tokenized assets fall under virtual assets, which are used for trading, transfer, payment, and investment. The Unit has received the information that 658 suspicious transactions and activities have occurred from January 2021 to July 2025. A total of 13 suspicious transactions and activities were reported in 2021, 173 in 2022, 138 in 2023, and 252 in 2024, according to the NRB report. A total of 82 suspicious transactions and activities took place till July 16 of the current fiscal year. Of the total suspicious transactions, more than 91 per cent (600) were sent by commercial banks, 48 by development banks, six by remittance companies, and two by finance companies. The NRB forwards such suspicious transactions and activities to different bodies for further investigation. As per the report, the NRB sent 232 such cases to the Nepal Police, 115 to the Revenue Investigation Department, six to the Department of Money Laundering Investigation, three to the Payment Services Department under NRB, and one to the Inland Revenue Department over the last five years. Director of the NRB and Chief of Financial Information Unit, Basu Dev Bhattarai, shared that the Unit has informed the different investigation bodies about illegal transactions and these bodies would forward further investigation in such matters.