UK suspends crypto ATM services
The UK Financial Conduct Authority warned that crypto ATM operators are not allowed to operate in the country
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) of the United Kingdom decided to suspend the services of all cryptographic ATMs that operate in the country, because the responsible operators do not have the necessary legal permits to carry out their operations and the terminals are operating illegally.
The information was provided by the regulatory body through a statement in which it warns that “all ATMs that operate with cryptocurrencies within the country stop their operations” because none of the “companies in charge of ATMs do not have the relevant permit, so they are committing a crime”.
The regulatory body also reported that it has contacted the country’s ATM operating companies to inform them “that they must stop their service or they will face very large sanctions.” According to the FCA, companies that are offering cryptocurrency services through ATMs are not registered, therefore “they do not have the relevant license to offer cryptographic services to UK citizens.”
FCA will prevent smurfing
The FCA rejected the request made by the cryptocurrency ATM operator Gidiplus for not requesting enough personal information from users who carry out operations with small amounts. According to the regulatory body, this practice could be used by citizens “to launder large amounts of money using the smurfing technique.”
The smurfing technique consists of laundering large amounts of money in small quantities and the Gidiplus company cashiers did not request the minimum information from those with incomes of less than 250 pounds sterling, for which the FCA denied the license under the Regulations regime. money laundering (MLR).
The company challenged the FCA’s decision before the Superior Court of Justice. However, the court ruled in favor of the regulator showing that Gidiplus had not proven that it could operate in a way that complied with the MLR protocol.
The regulatory body issued the statement, based on the decision of the Superior Court of Justice, forcing the rest of the operators to demonstrate that they comply with the protocols established by MRL if they wish to continue their operations in the country.
There are currently 82 cryptocurrency ATMs in the United Kingdom, which must stop their operations until they verify that they comply with the protocols to prevent smurfing.
M. Rodríguez
Source: bitcoin.es
