London, Mar 14 (IANS): The UK's Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned operators of crypto ATMs in the country to shut down their services or face enforcement action.

Crypto ATMs offering crypto-asset exchange services in the UK must be registered with us and comply with UK Money Laundering Regulations (MLR).

"None of the crypto-asset firms registered with us have been approved to offer crypto ATM services, meaning that any of them operating in the UK are doing so illegally and consumers should not be using them," the FCA said in a statement.

"We have warned operators of crypto ATMs in the UK to shut their machines down or face enforcement action," it added.

The UK regulator said it is concerned about crypto ATM machines operating and will, therefore, be contacting the operators instructing that the machines be shut down or face further action.

Since it published the list of unregistered crypto firms that may have been continuing to conduct business, a recent assessment found that 110 are no longer operational.

"We regularly warn consumers that cryptoassets are unregulated and high-risk which means people are very unlikely to have any protection if things go wrong, so people should be prepared to lose all their money if they choose to invest in them," the regulator stressed.

In the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war, the FCA has also written to all registered crypto-asset firms and those holding temporary registration status to highlight the application of sanctions on various entities and individuals.