Seven Crypto ATMs were seized and two people were arrested in south -western London on Thursday due to suspicion of money laundering and running an illegal cryptocurrency exchange.
The operation was led by the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Metropolitan Police, According to In a financial guardian’s statement.
Since January 2021, any crypto business that operates in the UK must be registered with the FCA and follow anti-money laundering regulations. Currently, there are no legal crypto ATMs that operate in the UK, and the use or operation of one without the FCA registration is a criminal offense.
“If you run a crypto ATM or exchange illegally, you should expect serious consequences,” said Therese Chambers, executive director of implementation and management of the FCA market. “Currently there are no legal operating crypto ATMs in the UK, so the use of one supports crime only.”
The suspects were interviewed and released under the investigation as the questioning continued.
Related: Tasmanian police find top 15 crypto ATM users are scam victims
US lawmakers suggest regulations on crypto ATMs
In Wisconsin, a US state where crypto kios became commonplace, a bill introduced Through senator Kelda Roys and state representative Ryan Spaude to create protection against fraud, hidden fees, deceptive pricing and scams that could result in significant financial losses.
The law was introduced after a wave of scams related to digital currencies and crypto kiosks had infiltrated the state.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Alc2u0ynfca
“Everyone deserves accurate information about the dangers of certain types of technology, transparency about costs and fees, and legal guards to avoid scams and criminal exploitation,” Roys said at that time. “Here’s the cryptocurrency and actively used – and we need to take steps to stop wisconsinites from screwed.”
The new law aims to deal with crypto scams
The most common scam involving crypto ATMs is the phishing scams, where the victims are the victims That -Trick on shipping crypto to scams Posing as law enforcement, government officials, or utility companies. They often target older and weaker populations.
According to an FBI report, the victims lost nearly $ 247 million in scams involved in crypto ATMs in 2023.
For the new bill to be the law, spaude and roys should pour the bill through committees, safe committees and flooring of the floor in the assembly and the Senate, and obtain the Governor’s signature.
A similar one Bill was introduced to the US Senate at a federal level on February 2025 by Senator Dick Durbin (D -IL). If passed, the “The Crypto ATM Fraud Prevention Act” will show warnings to kiosks across the country, implement limits to new customer transactions, and offers scam victims reporting fraud within 30 days of a full refund.
According to the data from CoinatmradarThe US is home to 78.4% of Bitcoin ATMs in the world.
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