Topic: [2019-06-07] Vancouver Mayor Wants to Ban Bitcoin ATMs (Read 225 times)

he doesn't understand what is he talking about , bitcoin ATMs being used by money launderers , seriously ...
just put your best sock on the head , walk into the ATM machine area , smile for the camera , then wait for the transaction to complete and get the cash
with the banknote numbers , potentially , in the database already
Vancouver knows how to legalize dope but they do not know how to make bitcoin ATMs to serve the purpose they are supposed to serve - to exchange coins for cash and vice versa
 

In all angles neither on Bitcoin ATM or hand to hand transaction these kind of illegal doings cant really be stopped no matter what.
The issue here is that anonymity does really increase on hiding themselves which means further verifications or image thing should be applied but I doubt
this isn't really suited on.If they decide to ban bitcoin atm's then theres nothing we can do about it.

Ok, if the real argument behind the ban is fear of narco dealers using them. lets think of the alternatives.
The dealer receives crypto and then withdraws at ATM, if there is no ATM there is no problem ?
I believe that in this case people just go to hand to hand transactions, in this case there is absolutely no control over the transactions and identities.

I see that there are several ways that local law enforcement can benefit, first they can make laws that makes ATMs to photograph users. Also there a lot of companies who provide crypto transactions tracking and this way , transactions potentially could be flagged and police informed.

They made of Bitcoin ATM!
vancouver a first ever ATM made.but mayor ban the ATM.is it because it is not legally done? But why the bank accepting fiat from bitcoin.well the process they made should be legal first to be able to run the ATM.still they not accepting cryptocurrency in there industry.but well lets just used bitcoin transaction by wallet so no more hassle and freewill to do what you want without intervention by the government.beside I think ATM no need when you using bitcoin wallet.using bitcoin wallet you can use this where ever you are.buy what ever you want.like Japan bitcoin using for any paying system and transferring money.

It is really ironic. Vancouver was the city in which the first Bitcoin ATM was installed. At that time everyone were excited about it, including the politicians. But the crime rate is spiraling out of control there lately, and some of the criminals are making use of the anonymity offered by Bitcoin to collect extortion payments and ransom money.

I think the amount of money which is in some way laundering via bitcoin ATMs is actually very small, most of these devices have certain limits and requires some identification. Such thinking by the mayor is very likely caused by scams which we had a chance to see in Canada, but also in some other part of the world where victims are targeted mostly by their immigrant status.

This can be resolved very easily, by putting notice on ATMs or by warnings on machine displays - "ATM is not place for paying your taxes"

What happened to all of these so-called KYC/AML regulations that you have to adhere to, before you can use these ATMs? I have seen ATMs where you have to take photo's of yourself, before you can use these ATMs. 

Most money laundering happens within a regulated environment and with cash, so why would they want to target Bitcoin ATM's now? I think it is time for Andreas to visit them again and to find out how they can resolve this problem. 

The "It's not centralized" made me laugh! 

Send them to a non-KYC exchange. Make some trades, then withdraw. Now you can say that all your coins came from trading profits. Or send them to a casino and claim they are gambling winnings.

I'm not sure if that's feasible given the KYC measures, but for ATMs that require only a [fake] ID or [burner] mobile phone verification, maybe it is.

Are Bitcoin ATM's really that great for money laundering? All ATM's that I've heard of are only selling BTC for cash, so it's not clear how someone can launder dirty cash with BTC - they'll still be unable to explain to authorities how they acquired those coins. And there's no debating that spending cash is much more easier than spending BTC. If ATM's can buy BTC, that would be more useful for laundering money, because they could convert dirty coins into more usable cash.

Isn't that what you'd expect if cryptocurrency is growing in adoption? The number of cryptocurrency users roughly doubled over the first three quarters of 2018. These statistics seem completely in line with that.


A business license and signage is probably fair enough. The other bits sound onerous.

it might be the case for the authorities to sit down with the cryptos experts and talk about how best to regulate the cryptos sector rather than act as if they were stone age. Crimes have always existed, but there has always been a way to fight crime without generating more violence and without harming most people.

https://www.coindesk.com/vancouver-first-city-with-a-cryptocurrency-atm-considering-ban?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=coindesk&utm_term=&utm_content=&utm_campaign=Organic%20

Bitcoin ATMs have become “an ideal money-laundering vehicle,” according to the Vancouver Police Department, prompting a proposed city-wide ban by the mayor, and potential federal legislation, The Star reports.

The 76 machines within the city limits have come under police fire twice already this past year due to perceived regulatory issues. Though, most recently in February 2019, Sergeant Alvin Shum took aim not only at Bitcoin ATMs, but also the ideological underpinnings of blockchain generally. He wrote, in a report to the Vancouver Police Board:

 

    “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.”

This lack of regulation, Shum said, will allow for the incubation of organized and petty crime. Indeed, he points to the rising trend of cryptocurrency police filings in Vancouver year over year, which increased 350% from 2016 to 2017, and saw a further 250% increase in 2018.

Current reporting rates indicate the Metro Police will receive 840 reports this year, on track for a 300% increase in reports from 2018.

It is unclear how many of these crimes were directly tied to the use of cryptocurrency ATMs, though Shum spoke of a “high-pressure” tactic employed by fraudsters to direct victims to withdraw large amounts of cash and deposit it in a Bitcoin ATM to a predefined Bitcoin address. These scams target the most vulnerable segments of the population including recent immigrants and the elderly.

Since Shum wrote to the police council, 15 new machines have been added to the Vancouver metro area, according to coinatmradar.com.

In January, the city council suggested a bylaw to “regulate the use and operation of cryptocurrency ATMs, including the requirement for a business licence, 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.”

Four months later, at a May 28 council meeting, Mayor Kennedy Stewart pushed for the outright ban crypto ATMs in the city. Defenders of the machines cite the utility for people who have transaction limits on their bank accounts, and the convenience for conducting cryptocurrency transactions. The third largest metropolitan area in Canada, Vancouver only hosts about 12% of the nation’s total crypto ATMs.

The first bitcoin ATM ever was installed at a Vancouver coffee shop in 2013, which contained a built-in palm scanner designed to prevent users from processing more than $3000 CAD per day.

“We don’t want drug dealers sending a bunch of coke to the States and then withdrawing cash,” said one of the machine’s owners as it was unveiled at its location in 2013. “We don’t want these to turn into money laundering machines; that’s the worst thing that could happen.”

Currently, Vancouver lacks standardization for the types of transactions that can be performed on its ATMs. Some machines require a cellphone number and text verification for transactions over $1,000, while for others push the limit to $3,000, according to CoinATMRadar.com. A few machines advertise no limits at all, according to The Star.

A decision regarding the regulation, monitoring, or ban of crypto ATMs is currently being researched by city staff who will report back in the fourth quarter of 2019, Alvin Singh, the mayor’s director of communications, told The Star.