UK Shop Owner Charged for Operating Illegal Crypto ATM

A man has become the first person charged in the UK for operating a crypto ATM.

Crypto ATMs had been relatively common in the UK—even though the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the body that regulates financial services in the UK, banned them in 2022. 

According to data from Coin ATM Radar, 81 working crypto ATMs were in the UK in March 2022, placing it among the top ten in the world at the time.

Though there have been numerous crackdowns by UK police on crypto ATMs since the ban, this is the first reported case of a criminal charge occurring as a result of operating one.

Police officers carried out a search warrant at an electronics shop in Chatham, Kent, where they seized several crypto ATMs, including one that was on public display.

Habibur Rahman, 37, based in Langdon Crescent in East Ham, London, was arrested following the search.  He has now been charged with operating the machine without registration from the FCA.

In addition, Kent police alleged he laundered £300,000 of criminal cash by converting it into digital assets.

Rahman is currently out on bail ahead of his October 10 court date.

Matthew Long, Director of Payments and Digital Assets for the FCA, said: ‘There are currently no crypto ATMs registered with the FCA – so if you’re using one of these machines you could be handing your money to criminals.

Crypto ATMs continue to be commonly used for criminal activity worldwide.

At least $160 million in illicit volumes have been processed by the cash-to-crypto industry, which operates primarily via crypto ATMs, since 2019 according to research by crypto analyst TRM Labs.

In Germany, where crypto ATMs are still legal provided they adhere to certain rules and regulations, law enforcement agencies recently confiscated almost €250,000 (roughly $279,000) in cash and shut down 13 cryptocurrency ATMs for lacking the correct licenses.

Though the UK has effectively stamped out the digital asset ATM industry, these ATMs are more common than ever in some regions.

The number of crypto ATMs in Australia has shot up in the past two years by 1700%, while the number in New Zealand has shot up from zero kiosks to 157 in the last 12 months, according to analysis by TRM Labs.

There are 31,843 crypto ATMs in the U.S. at the time of writing, as per Coin ATM data.

Edited by Stacy Elliott.