Overview
- Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority, working with tax officials and the Metropolitan Police, searched eight London addresses on Wednesday and issued stop notices ordering operators to halt activity.
- The regulator said evidence from the visits is feeding ongoing criminal investigations under the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 and counter-terrorist financing laws.
- Peer-to-peer crypto trading lets people swap coins directly without a central exchange, yet no such businesses are registered with the FCA in the UK.
- For users of unregistered P2P services, there is no regulatory protection, and the FCA warns people could lose all their money in crypto.
- The operation follows earlier actions against illegal crypto ATMs and a 2024 probe into an alleged unlicensed exchange that handled more than $1.25 billion, showing a sustained crackdown.