UK takes action against multiple cryptocurrency ATMs in London

LONDON, March 8 (Reuters) – Britain’s market regulator and police have launched an operation targeting suspected illegal cryptocurrency ATMs in east London, as British authorities attempt to shut down unregistered products that are considered to pose a high risk to consumers.

Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which launched a similar operation last month in the northern English city of Leeds, said on Wednesday it was reviewing evidence collected from “a range of locations”. and that she could take other measures.

The inspections were carried out under UK money laundering regulations, which allow authorities to enter premises without a warrant, observe activities taking place inside, demand explanations of documents or information and to make copies.

Cryptocurrency ATMs (CATMs) allow you to buy or convert money into crypto assets. But no CATM operator is registered with the FCA, which means anyone operating in this area is in breach of UK anti-money laundering regulations.

The FCA, which has long warned consumers that cryptocurrencies are unregulated and that investors should be prepared for the possibility of losing all their money, last year called on CATM operators to close their ATMs or to face a criminal investigation.

CoinATMRadar, a website that allows users to search for CATMs around the world, estimated the number of such ATMs in the UK at over 270 in 2020. It now only shows 19 locations, including 12 in London, 6 in Birmingham and one in Manchester.

Reuters was unable to determine whether this is because operators have closed their ATMs or because they no longer advertise their existence online.

“It’s very possible that they’ll fly under the radar,” said Marcus Sotiriou, an analyst at cryptocurrency broker Globalblock. “But there is also definitely an element of fear and uncertainty as to what FCA is going to do next.”

(Reporting by Kirstin Ridley; additional reporting by Elizabeth Howcroft; editing by Louise Heavens; editing in Spanish by Dario Fernandez)