The post Germany seizes 13 BTC ATMs, nearly $280K in fresh crackdown appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

German authorities have seized 13 BTC ATMs across the country that were operating without a license in a fresh crackdown. Germany‘s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) led the multi-agency crackdown that spanned 35 locations. The country’s central bank, Federal Criminal Police Office, and other local law enforcement agencies were also involved in the operation. In a statement published this week, BaFin revealed that it had seized €250,000 ($($279,000) in cash from the “crypto” ATMs. The regulator says the ATMs had been operating illegally, in breach of the country’s Banking Act. Since they facilitated the exchange of fiat for digital assets, they were required to obtain licenses from financial market authorities. BaFin warned other BTC ATM operators against operating without a license, noting that the machines could be a cradle of crime if the necessary KYC and AML programs were not observed. The BTC ATM crime wave BaFin joins its peers in other countries who have been clamping down on BTC ATMs in the past two years. In neighboring U.K., the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) conducted a crackdown in 2023, shutting down 26 machines that were either operating illegally or had been used for crime. In one particular case, a BTC ATM in Sheffield was shut down after a user lost £1,000 ($1,112) in a failed transaction. Several attempts to contact the operators to resolve the mishap were unsuccessful. “If you use a crypto ATM in the UK, you are using a machine that is operating illegally and you may be handing your money over to criminals,” warned the regulator at the time. By mid-last year, the number of BTC ATMs in the U.K. had dropped 90% owing to the FCA’s crackdown. Today, according to Coin ATM Radar, no active ATMs exist in the country. The U.S. dominates the BTC ATM sector…

---

Filed under: News - @ August 26, 2024 11:25 am