The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in Britain has ordered the closure of all Bitcoin ATM points in the country.
ATM providers recently received an order from the regulator to halt their operations, or risk facing enforcement action.
Bitcoin ATMs Banned in the UK to Prevent Money Laundering:
Bitcoin ATMs allow cash holders to independently transfer their money to Bitcoin, or vice versa.
Since transactions with these machines are private, the proliferation of these machines has raised concerns that they could help facilitate money laundering using cryptocurrencies.
In the sense that it provides a way out and a way away from the oversight of the security services.
According to Coin ATM, there are currently 80 Bitcoin ATMs operating across the UK, compared to more than 32,000 in the US.
Canada - home to the first ATM machine - ranks second with about 2,300 ATMs.
Most of the machines in Britain are in supermarkets and convenience stores, for which the FCA has also issued a notice.
The regulator's order states that it has not granted any license to any of the ATM operators, and is concerned that they are not providing adequate background checks.
According to the FCA statement:
Crypto ATMs offering cryptocurrency exchange services in the UK must be registered with us and comply with UK money laundering regulations.
None of our registered cryptocurrency companies are approved to provide Bitcoin ATM services, which means that none of them operate in the UK illegally and consumers should not use them.
Companies found to be operating these machines illegally may be liable for fines and criminal prosecutions while being barred from other forms of financial business.
Attempts to suppress crypto around the world:
From protests to sanctions, governments around the world are rushing to subject crypto transactions to regulatory oversight.
Some fear that Russia will start using cryptocurrencies to bypass Western trade restrictions after being cut off from the SWIFT system.
However, it is not an ideal solution for criminals.
Although crypto transactions are originally a pseudonym, the government can track them better than a dollar as long as they can associate a specific blockchain address with someone's identity.
The data reflects this shocking reality, as Chainalysis has found that the criminal share of crypto transactions is declining over time.
The same company also recently released a tool that helps track the funds of sanctioned individuals, making crypto transactions less private.
