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UK bans use of Bitcoin ATMs

UK bans use of Bitcoin ATMs

ATMs for trading cryptocurrency (especially Bitcoin) are among the most popular devices that allow you to easily convert virtual currency into completely real money. However, as it turned out, some countries consider them a potential source of financial fraud.

FCA, Great Britain’s financial regulator, I decided to declare these ATMs illegal on the islands. This means that an operator who still keeps these machines in operation is doing so against the law and should stop doing so immediately.

The FCA notes that crypto ATMs must be registered while meeting the requirements of the British anti-money laundering regulations. However, at the moment, none of the operators are approved to provide such services, which means that each device is illegal.

ATMs appear to have been widely used for illegal financial transactions, according to information from the UK’s financial regulator. Most importantly, it was often impossible to identify specific people responsible for this practice, because the machines did not perform specific verification of the people exchanging virtual currencies.

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