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Some convenience stores are continuing to host illegal cryptocurrency ATMs, with investigations leading to raids and prosecutions of shops and network operators.
On 30 September, Olumide Osunkoya, aged 45, pleaded guilty to running a covert network of at least 11 cryptocurrency ATMs in local shops, processing more than £2.6m of currency. He will be the first person sentenced under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds regulations 2017.
A month earlier, shop owner Habibur Rahman, 37, of Langdon Crescent in East Ham, was the first to be charged for allegedly operating an illegal cryptocurrency ATM. A number of illegal machines were reportedly seized at a raid of the store in Chatham, Kent, in 2023, according to police.
Despite the crackdown, undercover calls by Better Retailing identified at least one convenience store in London still hosting a bitcoin ATM using online directories. A staff member accepted they knew the machines are illegal, but claimed it was not working at the time. The same online directory showed other stores allegedly featuring the illegal devices in the UK.
Retailers operating Bitcoin ATMs could be charged for committing other criminal acts
Bitcoin ATMs allowed shoppers to purchase the untraceable digital currency, until they were effectively outlawed in 2020 when a law requiring operators to be registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) was introduced.
So far, the FCA has refused to register a single operator. Before the change, hundreds of stores had installed the devices, with some making £2,500 per year in commission.
The FCA told Better Retailing many retailers may be unaware of the risks of hosting the machines, which are often installed by hard-to-contact third parties knowingly engaged in criminal acts.
Between January and August 2023, the FCA inspected 34 locations hosting cryptocurrency ATMs, and published a case study of a store in Sheffield where a customer lost £1,000 to a machine while shop staff were unaware of, and unable to contact, its operator.
An FCA spokesperson told Better Retailing: “Even if not the owner or operator of the machine, retailers may be subject to FCA enforcement action or be committing other criminal offences so should seek legal advice. Those that operate the machines without FCA registration could face a maximum sentence of two years in prison, or a fine, or both.
“Anyone who wishes to operate a crypto ATM in the UK, regardless of where the machine is made, must be registered with the FCA. Currently, no one is registered to operate a crypto ATM in the UK.”
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