SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash., May 12, 2026, 01:20 PDT
Spokane Valley’s city council has unanimously banned virtual currency kiosks, putting another city on the growing list of places moving to push crypto ATMs out of retail stores after police tied them to fraud, large losses and a case that ended in suicide.
The timing matters because the machines sit in ordinary places — convenience stores, gas stations and mini marts — and move cash quickly. A virtual currency kiosk, often marketed as a crypto or Bitcoin ATM, lets users deposit cash to buy digital currency rather than withdraw money from a bank account; law enforcement says scammers exploit that speed to move funds beyond easy recovery.
Spokane Valley’s action comes days after Minnesota enacted a statewide ban. The Minnesota law, signed May 5, bars anyone from installing, operating, maintaining or making available a virtual currency kiosk beginning Aug. 1, 2026, and requires visible or publicly accessible machines to be removed by Dec. 31.
In Spokane Valley, businesses with kiosks have 30 days to remove them. After that, owners can face a $250 penalty and risk losing a business license, according to The Spokesman-Review.
Spokane Valley Police Chief Dave Ellis said the machines had become “a tool to facilitate scams,” with victims being directed by criminals to transfer money through them. Financial crimes detective Elijah Jones said once cash is converted and sent through a kiosk, police cannot simply retrieve it from the machine. Spokesman-Review
National fraud data has made the issue harder for local officials to ignore. The FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report showed nearly $21 billion in reported cyber-enabled crime losses, including more than $11 billion tied to cryptocurrency complaints; Americans over 60 reported about $7.7 billion in losses across all internet crime categories.
Federal regulators had already warned about the same channel. FinCEN, the U.S. Treasury unit that tracks financial crimes, said in August that convertible virtual currency kiosks — machines used to exchange digital money for cash or other currency — can serve legitimate customers but are also exploited by scammers, including in tech-support and bank-imposter schemes.
Minnesota officials said softer rules did not stop the losses. The Minnesota Commerce Department identified 120 complaints involving virtual-currency kiosks from 2023 to 2025, totaling nearly $1 million in losses, and Assistant Commissioner Sara Payne said earlier transaction caps and warnings had proved “fairly ineffective.” She told the Star Tribune there was “no such thing as a safe crypto kiosk in Minnesota.” Star Tribune
The fight also puts pressure on kiosk operators. CoinFlip urged Minnesota to reconsider, saying it favored consumer-focused rules that target bad actors while preserving access to the digital economy; attorneys general in Iowa and Washington, D.C., have sued Bitcoin Depot, CoinFlip and Athena Bitcoin over fraud-linked transactions, allegations the companies dispute.
But bans may not end crypto fraud. Scams can shift to online exchanges, wallet-to-wallet transfers or other payment rails, while operators say some legitimate users rely on kiosks because they lack easy access to traditional banking. The policy question is narrower: whether removing the cash machine in the corner gives victims more time to stop before the money is gone.
Minnesota’s week was not just about crypto. In a separate public-safety measure approved May 5, the state required disclosure when officers deploy chemical irritants, smoke screens or diversionary devices inside buildings, including product details for owners, tenants, insurers and cleanup workers; another law bars certain homeowner-insurance exclusions when damage is caused by peace officers, effective Jan. 1, 2027. Local reports tied the measures to advocacy by Colin Hortman after cleanup at his parents’ home was delayed following their killings.
