Briefly
Tennessee has change into the second U.S. state to impose a sweeping ban on Bitcoin ATMs, which is ready to take impact in July.
In March, Indiana imposed a ban on the machines, which federal authorities have recognized as a vector committing fraud towards the aged.
The FBI reported that People aged over 60 misplaced $257 million to scams involving Bitcoin ATMs final yr.
Tennessee has change into the second U.S. state to outlaw Bitcoin ATMs, making it a felony offense within the Volunteer State to personal or function the machines that federal authorities have recognized as a vector committing fraud towards the aged.
Whether or not operators’ kiosks enable clients to buy Bitcoin or different digital belongings with money, they’ve till July 1 to tug the plug beneath Home Invoice 2505, which Tennessee Governor Invoice Lee signed into regulation on April 13 following the laws’s introduction earlier this yr.
The laws was co-sponsored by Republican state representatives Cameron Sexton and Jay Reedy. In a March assertion, Sexton stated the kiosks “have change into a gateway for scammers to use Tennesseans, particularly our seniors.”
Sexton famous that victims defrauded whereas utilizing Bitcoin ATMs typically have little hope of recovering their cash as soon as it’s gone. That was across the time that native authorities warned of a rip-off the place victims had misplaced $4 million to abroad scammers posing as regulation enforcement.
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Reedy, a licensed grasp beef producer, stated “Crypto ATMs have given scammers a quick and simple method to goal our residents and scare them into draining their financial savings.”
The two-page invoice, which was launched in February, classifies violations as a Class A misdemeanor, on par in Tennessee with easy drug possession and home assault.
In whole, Tennessee hosts 651 Bitcoin ATMs, with a majority of them clustered round Nashville, the state’s most populous metropolis and capital, in accordance with Coin ATM Radar. The areas vary from fuel stations and smoke retailers to liquor shops.
Based on FBI numbers launched this month, People aged over 60 misplaced $257 million to scams involving Bitcoin ATMs final yr, a 58% enhance year-over-year. Residents beneath 30, for comparability, misplaced $6.6 million to that sort of rip-off in 2025.
In March, Indiana grew to become the primary U.S. state to impose a sweeping ban on Bitcoin ATMs, per WLFI. The publication cited one regulation enforcement official who stated, “The variety of studies has doubled every year for the final 4 years.”
Amid an uptick in scams, a number of states have handed laws imposing transaction limits and mandating refunds for victims. In Minnesota, lawmakers are weighing laws that will observe Tennessee’s lead and ban Bitcoin ATMs throughout the state.
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