The British Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has recently ordered all crypto ATM operators in the country to shut down operations with immediate effect to avoid legal action.
According to the report, the U.K. financial watchdog is cracking down on crypto ATMs in operation for lack of official approval by the regulator. It’s declared illegal under UK Money Laundering Regulations (MLRs). The order was officially published on the regulator’s website on 11th March 2022.
The notice reads in part as follows:
“Crypto ATMs offering cryptoasset exchange services in the UK must be registered with us and comply with UK Money Laundering Regulations (MLR). None of the cryptoasset firms registered with us have been approved to offer crypto ATM services, meaning that any of them operating in the UK are doing so illegally and consumers should not be using them.”
According to the report, the Upper Tribunal recently ruled against Gidiplus, a firm offering crypto ATM services, which wanted to continue operating normally pending the Upper Tribunal’s determination of its appeal against FCA refusing its application for registration under the MLRs.
Going by the report, the judge concluded there was a ‘lack of evidence as to how Gidiplus would undertake its business in a broadly compliant fashion’.
The regulator wrote, “We are concerned about crypto ATM machines operating in the UK and will therefore be contacting the operators instructing that the machines be shut down or face further action”
FCA warned that any crypto ATM operator that fails to adhere to this order should be ready to face further action:
“We regularly warn consumers that cryptoassets are unregulated and high-risk which means people are very unlikely to have any protection if things go wrong, so people should be prepared to lose all their money if they choose to invest in them.”
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