UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Union has ordered the closure of all ATMs in bitcoin in a country.

according to Coin ATM radarcurrently there are only 80 ATMs in bitcoin running everywhere Great Britain, compared to more than 32 thousand in the United States. Canada, home to the first ATM, came in second with about 2,300 ATMs.

Most of the machines in the country are located in supermarkets and convenience stores, which have also been issued by the FCA. Authorities claim that they don’t license any ATM operators and are concerned that they don’t provide enough background checks that online exchanges are usually enforced.

“Crypto ATMs offer crypto asset exchange services in great Britain must be registered with us and comply with the money laundering regulations of Great Britain”, FCA said. “None of the crypto asset companies listed with us have been approved to offer crypto ATM services, meaning that one of them operates in great Britain doing it illegally and consumers shouldn’t use it.”

Why were bitcoin ATMs removed?

ATM from bitcoin they allow cash holders to independently convert their money into this cryptocurrency, or vice versa. Since cash transactions are private, the proliferation of these machines has raised concerns that they could help facilitate cryptocurrency laundering.

Companies found to be operating these machines illegally can be subject to fines and criminal prosecution while being prevented from other forms of financial business.

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