Minnesota's ban on cryptocurrency ATMs officially took effect on August 1, forcing operators to deactivate every machine in the state after officials linked the kiosks to roughly $1 million in scam losses between 2023 and 2025. The law, SF 3868, was signed by Governor Tim Walz on May 5 and gives operators until December 31 to physically remove the deactivated machines entirely.
Minnesota's commerce department, which tracked the reported losses, said the schemes disproportionately targeted seniors and frequently relied on pressure tactics built around fake emergencies — a relative in trouble, an urgent government fine, a compromised bank account — that pushed victims toward the nearest crypto kiosk to move money quickly.
A Small Piece of a Much Larger Problem
The $1 million tied specifically to crypto ATMs is a fraction of Minnesota's overall exposure to digital asset fraud. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center reported that the state saw more than $151 million in total digital asset and crypto wallet losses in 2025 alone, spanning romance scams, investment fraud and other schemes well beyond kiosk-based transactions. Before the ban took effect, CoinATMRadar data showed 201 crypto ATMs and kiosks were still operating across Minnesota.
Part of a Broader State-Level Crackdown
Minnesota joins a small but growing group of states restricting crypto ATM operations. Tennessee enacted a full ban on July 1, while Georgia's new transaction limits on kiosk purchases also took effect the same day. Lawmakers in Delaware and New Jersey have advanced similar proposals, suggesting the regulatory pressure on crypto ATM operators is likely to keep building through the rest of the year.
Unlike some other states that have opted for transaction caps or mandatory fraud warnings, Minnesota's approach is a full prohibition — operators cannot simply add disclosures or lower limits to stay compliant. The wind-down period through year-end is meant to give operators time to remove hardware without an abrupt shutdown, but the machines themselves must go dark immediately.
Why Regulators Keep Targeting Kiosks
Crypto ATMs have drawn scrutiny nationally because they offer scammers a fast, largely irreversible way to convert a victim's cash into cryptocurrency on the spot, with far less friction than a bank wire or traditional money transfer. Once funds are converted and sent, recovery is extremely difficult, which is part of why state commerce departments and consumer protection offices have increasingly treated the machines as a distinct enforcement priority rather than folding them into general fraud warnings.
