The Financial Conduct Authority has launched a crackdown on suspected illegal cryptocurrency cashpoints across Leeds.
The crypto machines are not registered with the FCA to operate in the country, it said in a recent press statement. It added that it worked with authorities such as the local police to remove the machines.
Despite this, the FCA does register services for buying digital assets on an app or bank transfer service, where customers can withdraw funds from cashpoint ATMs.
According to a Whitehall report, cybercriminals used the machines as “money mules” to launder money.
Comments on Crypto Cash Machines
Det Sgt Lindsey Brants, Head of the West Yorkshire Police Force Cyber Team, said in a statement:
“Having conducted intelligence-gathering work across West Yorkshire, we soon established the locations of several live crypto ATMs […] We are pleased to be able to work in partnership with the FCA in what we believe is a national first here in West Yorkshire.”
Authorities warned crypto machine operators to stop using the devices, adding that money laundering breaches would trigger investigations, with the FCA receiving updates. Crypto operators facing charges could receive up to two years in prison.
Mark Steward, Executive Director of Enforcement and Market Oversight at the FCA, said:
‘Unregistered Crypto ATMs operating in the UK are doing so illegally. We will continue to identify and disrupt unregistered crypto businesses operating in the UK. Crypto businesses operating in the UK need to be registered with the FCA for anti-money laundering purposes.
Steward added that crypto products were “currently unregulated and high-risk, and you should be prepared to lose all of your money if you invest in them.”
