A 37-year-old man was arrested here on Tuesday for running India’s first bitcoin ATM kiosk, which police called illegal as it had been set up without approvals.

Harish BV, from Tumakuru and co-founder of Unocoin Technologies, Rajajinagar, operated the kiosk at Kemp Fort Mall on Old Airport Road. The kiosk facilitated cryptocurrency deals.

Central Crime Branch sleuths seized a teller machine, two laptops, a mobile, three credit cards, five debit cards, a passport, five seals of Unocoin company, a cryptocurrency device and Rs 1.8 lakh.

Harish was produced before the I additional chief metropolitan magistrate court which sent him to police custody for seven days. Cops said more arrests are likely.

According to police, the kiosk was a platform for bitcoin buyers and sellers. Police requested public not to be lured by the prospect of making huge profits and invest money in cryptocurrencies.