FCA, Met Police Continue Bitcoin ATM Crackdown in East London
by James · March 9, 2023
The United Kingdom Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) continued its crackdown on illegal Bitcoin ATMs this week, announcing that it had inspected several sites in East London suspected of hosting unregistered machines.
According to an FCA announcement on March 8, the Financial Conduct Authority stated that it had investigated several locations in the East London area alongside the Metropolitan Police, and would continue to “identify and disrupt” unregistered crypto-ATM businesses in the UK.
The latest development in the FCA’s ongoing battle against illegal ATM operators follows similar raids carried out in Leeds earlier this year, alongside West Yorkshire Police’s Digital Intelligence and Investigation Unit.
Decrypt attempted to contact the operators and manufacturers of Bitcoin ATMs operating in the UK.
No response was received from General Bytes, one of the main manufacturers of Bitcoin ATMs in the UK and around the world. General Bytes accounts for 25.2% of the global Bitcoin ATM market share and has the most ATM installations around the world.
Kwik-Bit, a Bitcoin ATM company that previously operated in the London area, told Decrypt that the ATM had closed and is no longer in business. Other Bitcoin ATM operators listed in London did not respond, or could not be reached via their listed numbers – some of which were disconnected.
According to an FCA notice from March 2022, no Bitcoin ATMs currently operating in the UK have been registered with the relevant authorities, meaning that every Bitcoin ATM in the UK is operating illegally.
Mark Steward, executive director of Enforcement and Market Oversight at the FCA, said that “this operation, together with last month’s action in Leeds, sends a clear message that we will continue to identify and disrupt unregistered crypto businesses in the UK.”
Bitcoin ATMs exploded in popularity in 2021 in tandem with the rise of the cryptocurrency market that year, which saw Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the broader crypto market value rise to all-time highs. Over 2,000 Bitcoin ATMs were installed monthly around the world during the summer of 2021.
However, this trend has since reversed, with 1,054 Bitcoin ATMs closing between February and March 2023 alone.
According to global data from CoinATMRadar, there are currently 1,469 Bitcoin ATMs operating in the European region, of which only 18 are operating in the UK. There are 32,164 Bitcoin ATMs in the US alone, which is 86% of the worldwide number.
Crypto in the UK
The current Prime Minister of the UK, Rishi Sunak, laid out a comprehensive plan to make the UK a “global technology hub for cryptoassets” by early 2022, during his tenure as Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Since then, the UK Parliament introduced the Financial Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill, which expanded police powers to make it easier to “seize, freeze and recover” crypto assets in an effort to combat money laundering.
Several UK banks tightened their approach to crypto use by their customers in the wake of the collapse of FTX last year, with many now refusing to process crypto purchases.
