BaFin Germany Cracks Down on Unauthorized Cryptocurrency ATMs
- On August 20, BaFin, in collaboration with police, Deutsche Bundesbank, and BKA, conducted raids on 35 locations across Germany, seizing 13 unauthorized crypto ATMs.
- The seized ATMs, located in major cities like Düsseldorf and Berlin, were operating without the necessary licenses under the German Banking Act.
- The crackdown highlights the importance of regulatory compliance in the rapidly growing cryptocurrency market.
BaFin's Nationwide Raids and Seizures
Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) took major steps to minimize unlawful crypto activities. The authority has recently stepped up its activities against unlawful crypto activities by seizing unlawful crypto ATMs across the country. This decision is one of the steps of the BaFin to improve the financial supervision and to fight money laundering connected with these machines.
On August 20, BaFin together with police, Deutsche Bundesbank, and the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) conducted raids on 35 locations in Germany. The operation saw the police seize 13 crypto ATMs that were being operated without a permit and $278,124 in cash. BaFin stated that these machines were being operated without the license as provided by the German Banking Act and hence their operation was unlawful.
The seized ATMs were in several big German cities, including Dusseldorf and Berlin, which are among the cities with many Bitcoin (BTC) ATMs. These unauthorized machines were a great risk to be used for money laundering because they did not have adequate KYC measures in place.
At the press time, BTC price was trading at $61,249.74, after a 3.00% spike in 24 hours with $1,208,526,238,557 in market cap and $35,314,330,028 in 24-hour volume.
BaFin also pointed out that any transaction over 10,000 euro must be verified for the identity of the customer to avoid any unlawful business and any suspicious transaction must be reported to the FIU.
New World Record in BTC ATMs and Increasing Regulation
The market for BTC ATMs was on the rise in 2023 with the global demand reaching $182. 1 million and more than 2500 new ATMs were deployed globally. This growth, which is expected to persist at a 63. 4% annually from 2024 to 2030, is due to the revived demand for cryptocurrencies after a bearish year in 2022.
However, this has led to an increase in regulatory actions with BaFin Germany and the UK’s FCA for instance, seizing unauthorized machines to prevent their use in criminal activities.
Conclusion
The recent actions of BaFin show that the regulation of the rapidly growing market of cryptocurrencies is crucial. With the growing popularity of cryptocurrencies, it will be important to ensure that all transactions are legal and regulatory compliant to reduce incidences of fraud and other related vices in the financial market.
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