Ministers are launching a crackdown on the virtual currency Bitcoin amid growing concern it is being used to launder money and dodge tax.

The Treasury has disclosed plans to regulate the Bitcoin that will force traders in so-called crypto-currencies to disclose their identities and report suspicious activity.

Until now, anybody buying and selling bitcoins and other digital currencies have been able to do so anonymously, making it attractive to criminals and tax avoiders.

But the Treasury has now said it intends to begin regulating the virtual currency, which has a total value of £145 billion, to bring it in line with rules on anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financial legislation.

The new rules, which will be applied across the European Union, are expected to come into force by the end of the year or early in 2018, the minister in charge has said.

John Mann, a member of the Treasury select committee, said he expected to hold an inquiry into the need for better regulation of Bitcoin and other alternative currencies in the new year.