In an attempt to curb fraud and money laundering, Canada is contemplating a ban on cryptocurrency ATMs. The nation is worried that these machines are becoming indispensable to scammers.
On Tuesday, the Liberal administration released its Spring Economic Update, which included a measure that would outlaw crypto ATMs nationwide. A “primary method” for victim fraud and the laundering of illegal proceeds was how the ATMs were classified by authorities.
Fraud and Money Laundering Concerns Intensify
The Canadian government has declared its desire to completely ban these machines, protecting its population from scammers who may take advantage of their gullibility and conceal their criminal gains.
A crypto ATM may seem like any other ATM, but it really uses an entirely new method to take money out of your bank account. Customers are able to convert fiat dollars into digital currencies like bitcoin using these machines, which allows them to send the funds to a digital wallet anywhere in the world. At that time, money laundering might happen.
The proposal is a reaction to the increasing number of complaints about the use of crypto ATMs in fraud schemes from regulatory and law enforcement bodies. In 2023, an internal analysis by the Canadian financial intelligence agency FINTRAC found that crypto ATMs will likely be “the primary method” for fraudsters to take money from those who aren’t paying attention.
Critics of the anonymity of cryptocurrency transactions have prompted some Canadian lawmakers to contemplate outlawing the practice of using these digital currencies to fund political campaigns.