Vancouver Mayor Proposes a City-Wide Ban on Bitcoin ATMs

The authorities at Vancouver are slowly turning against Bitcoin ATMs as the city’s mayor recently proposed a city-wide ban on such machines.
According to a report by local news agency The Star, the proposal came after the city police’s remarked that a Bitcoin ATM is “an ideal money-laundering vehicle.”

Vancouver is the as the first machine was installed in 2013 at a coffee shop in the city. According to Coinatmradar.com, there are 76 Bitcoin ATMs right now in the city, however, unlike other money-service businesses, none of them are covered by federal anti-money laundering regulations.
Prior to the recent comments of the city mayor, the police department had already attacked the city’s Bitcoin ATM establishment twice over the years.
A steep rise in crypto-related crimes
In a February 2019 report, Sergent Alvin Shum of the Vancouver Police Department wrote: “Given the lack of a central authority, there is no controlling organization who can monitor or regulate the transfer of funds to ensure a legitimate transaction. This creates a prime opportunity for the criminal element to capitalize on remaining anonymous, as they work to defraud unsuspecting citizens, launder money, and make large-sum anonymous transactions.”
Sergent Shum’s conclusion was based on in the Canadian city. The filings of the crypto crimes increased 350 percent from 2016 to 2017, and in 2019, the police already registered 840 cases – 300 percent increase compared to the figures of 2018.
However, the crypto businesses are bullish on the industry as after publishing the February 2019 report, 15 new Bitcoin ATMs opened up in the city.
The crypto ATMs across the city also as in some machines a mobile verification is required for withdrawals above $1,000, whereas for others the limit is $3,000.
Earlier this year, the city council suggested a bylaw to “regulate the use and operation of cryptocurrency ATMs, including the requirement for a business license, requirement for signage to advertise common frauds, requirement for identifications to be used to verify the sender and receiver of funds and requirement of security features.”