Key facts: Cash worth almost €250,000 was seized, according to the regulator. The office says cryptocurrencies are associated with “considerable risks.” Authorities in Germany seized at least 13 cryptocurrency ATMs and seized almost $250,000 in a raid ordered by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin). In a statement, the agency said the seizure of the equipment was done because those ATMs were operating “without the required BaFin permit.” Also, because “they carry the risk of money laundering.”
According to BaFin, ATMs were operating in at least 35 locationswhere the agents “took measures against the operators with the support of the police and the Central Bank, as well as in coordination with the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA).” According to them, the machines operated in the country in connection “with around 60 illegal working groups.” They add that were located in major German cities.
The German financial authority clarified in its statement that the exchange of euros for cryptocurrencies and vice versa, which is carried out at ATMs, constitutes a trading operation on one's own account or a banking transaction and therefore “requires express permission from BaFin in accordance with the law.” If not, then the ATMs and these transactions are illegal. BaFin also indicated that trading in cryptoassets “is associated with considerable risks, which can lead to total loss.” They also assert that operators who act illegally “are pursued by the police and the prosecutor's office,” and that the perpetrators “face sentences of up to five years in prison.”
The entity claims that cryptocurrency ATMs “attract users with criminal intentions. Although it did not clarify whether, in fact, criminals have a preference for crypto assets or rather are inclined to fiat money to commit their crimes. This knowing that the Digital assets are traceablewhich could be an undesirable feature for those engaged in crime. As has already been pointed out in reports, less than 1% of the value moved with bitcoin and cryptocurrencies comes from crime. Instead, criminals still prefer fiat cash, like euros or dollars in paper moneybecause tracking them is extremely difficult for the authorities. The 13 ATMs seized by the German authorities are part of the more than 170 that are currently operating in that country. According to the tracking site CoinATMRadar, there are 176 active devices in the European country, most of them in the cities of Düsseldorf, Berlin, Munich and Hamburg.