Payment processor SolidTrust Pay has announced it is terminating business operations on April 1st, 2020.

The crackdown on scam friendly payment processors began in 2013 with Liberty Reserve.

Payza was the next major processor to fall in 2018.

SolidTrust Pay doesn’t reveal whether it’s under regulatory investigation, but does cite “regulatory conditions” as a reason for closing.

To our regret, changes in economic and regulatory conditions in recent years have had a significant and negative impact on our operations.

These changes have made it difficult to secure the financing required to expand our services outside Canada.

SolidTrust Pay also cites tech firms entering the payment processing sector. The likes of Google, Apple and Samsung don’t provide services to scams however, so that’s a bit of a red herring.

It’s no secret cryptocurrency has exploded as the vehicle of choice for fraudulent schemes over the past few years.

SolidTrust Pay appears to have begun offering cryptocurrency services in late 2016.

Boasting “over one million members” and regularly appearing on scam payment method lists, the processor is no doubt an attractive target for regulators.

SolidTrust Pay is purportedly based out of Canada, but I was unable to find any information on who actually owns it.

In any event, even with SolidTrust Pay voluntarily shutting down it’ll be interesting to see if regulatory action follows.

Liberty Reserve’s founder was sentenced to twenty years in prison in 2016. Payza’s co-founders were indicted on money laundering charges in 2018.

As it stands Perfect Money is probably the last major “traditional” processor still servicing the MLM underbelly. They also offering cryptocurrency services.

Use of Perfect Money system by US citizens and permanent residents is strictly prohibited.

System reserves the right to block the registrations originating from the USA or from US citizens located abroad due to local laws and regulations.

Any individual or company suspected of submitting false/misleading information with purpose of hiding US location or affiliation may be subject to account block with no prior warning.

I wonder how long before they’re shut down too? Or perhaps, like SolidTrust Pay, Perfect Money will instead opt for getting a head start on authorities.