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Monetary Authority forces re-brand for Macau Bitcoin ATM

June 20, 2014

Coinnet says that the Bitcoin machines it plans to install in Macau will be marketed as two-way Bitcoin exchange kiosks, not ATMs, the Macau Business Daily reports.

The name change follows a warning from the Monetary Authority of Macau, which released the following statementon June 17, 2014 in response to enquiries about Bitcoin machines: “Any commercial entities other than authorized financial institutions are prohibited from using the words, expressions or any other terms having or implying the idea of operating the business of a credit institution, including ‘ATM’, in the course of their business."

The Monetary Authority of Macau cited the Macau Financial System Act, which regulates the supervision of financial activities in Macau.

The Macau Business Daily says that in Hong Kong, Coinnet was not allowed to market its Bitcoin machines as ATMs.