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UK Financial Regulator Expands Enforcement Against Crypto ATMs to East London
The FCA began taking action against illegal crypto ATMs last month, inspecting sites in the northern city of Leeds.
Updated Mar 8, 2023, 3:53 p.m. Published Mar 8, 2023, 10:09 a.m.
The U.K Financial Conduct Authority has expanded its enforcement action against crypto ATMs, taking the investigation to East London after working with West Yorkshire Police to tackle crypto ATM operators in the northern city of Leeds.
The financial regulator is working with the Metropolitan Police and inspecting "several sites in East London suspected of hosting illegally operating crypto ATMs," said Wednesday.
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All companies providing crypto services in the U.K. must be registered with the FCA for compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing rules. The regulator has previously said that none of the crypto asset businesses registered with it are authorized to provide ATM services. So any crypto ATMs operating in the country are doing so illegally.
Details about the number and location of sites were not provided. The FCA did not immediately respond to CoinDesk's request for further comment.
According to data from Coin ATM Radar, there are 18 bitcoin ATMs installed across the whole of the U.K.
Read more: Bitcoin ATM Operator Coin Cloud Files for Bankruptcy With Liabilities of $100M-$500M
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