Just read an interesting news story from the Canadian side. The Liberal government wants to outright ban cryptocurrency ATMs nationwide. The reason given? These machines have become a major tool for scammers and money launderers.

For those not familiar with how they work, these crypto ATMs only appear similar to traditional bank ATMs. Instead of withdrawing cash like a traditional bank ATM, you convert your cash into Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, which you can then send directly to a digital wallet anywhere in the world. It’s precisely this bypassing of usual banking channels that raises concerns for authorities.

According to FINTRAC, the Canadian financial intelligence agency, these machines have become the “main method” used by scammers to collect and launder their victims’ money. The government cites internal 2023 data showing that this trend is expected to continue.

It’s quite ironic when you consider that Canada hosted the world’s first Bitcoin ATM in Vancouver in 2013, in a small downtown café. At the time, it was seen as a technological breakthrough. Today, lawmakers want to eliminate them.

And that’s not all. Parliamentarians are also debating a ban on cryptocurrencies as a means of political donations, again for reasons of anonymity and fund traceability.

Interesting to see how perceptions of crypto tools are evolving politically, especially when fraud becomes a visible problem. It also shows why regulation remains a key issue in the industry.