LocalBitcoins confirms removal of in-person cash trades

Peer-to-peer exchange and escrow service LocalBitcoins has confirmed the removal of in-person cash trades. The option has been disabled since Saturday, June 1. Before that, LocalBitcoins users could choose “In-person: Cash” as an option when buying or selling bitcoins.

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The company explains the move was made due to local regulations—LocalBitcoins is located in Finland and needs to adhere to the Act on Detecting and Preventing Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing. “This condition demands us to follow certain sanctions and implement effective controls to mitigate related threats,” the official statement reads. 

“In order to adapt to the current regulatory environment, we had to reconsider our policy on local cash trades as well as on the geographical areas where our service is available, among other platform features,” the company writes. This may refer to the fact the company stopped offering services in Iran for “risk-based reasons” last month.