London resident Olumide Osunkoya has been charged with unlawfully running multiple crypto ATMs, in the Financial Conduct Authority’s first criminal prosecution regarding unregistered cryptoasset activity
These are also the first charges brought against a person accused of running a network of crypto ATMs in the UK. Osunkoya is due to appear before Westminster Magistrates’ Court on 30 September 2024.
However, Nick Barnard, partner, Corker Binning, said that while the case ‘makes for headlines, in reality this is a distraction from the real challenges faced by the FCA in regulating cryptoassets’.
Barnard said that, while the £2.6m allegedly processed by Osunkoya is ‘not insignificant’, it is ‘dwarfed’ by the $226m of transactions handled by a trading platform part of the Coinbase Group, resulting in a £3.5m FCA fine in July.
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