Cryptocurrency ATMs are vanishing rapidly across the United States, with two states activating new laws on July 1 that either ban the machines entirely or impose sharp operating restrictions on them.
Tennessee Goes Full Ban, Georgia Adds Guardrails
Tennessee’s law, signed by Governor Bill Lee in April, prohibits the use and installation of all cryptocurrency ATMs and kiosks statewide. At the time the ban took effect, 185 crypto ATMs and kiosks were operating in Tennessee, according to CoinATMRadar data.
Georgia’s law takes a different approach, stopping short of an outright ban but requiring ATM operators to cap transaction amounts for both new and existing users, issue fraud warnings to customers, and in some cases refund victims of scam-related activity.
A Growing Wave of State-Level Crackdowns
Tennessee and Georgia are not acting alone. Indiana imposed a similar ban in March, and Minnesota operators have until August 1 to comply with a comparable prohibition. Delaware and New Jersey lawmakers have separately proposed legislation that would completely ban crypto ATMs in those states.
State and local governments have pushed these measures primarily in response to fraud incidents targeting senior citizens, who have been conned into sending funds to scammers through crypto kiosks.
Bitcoin Depot Already Under
The mounting regulatory pressure may have already contributed to at least one major operator going under. Bitcoin Depot filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in May, having disclosed just days earlier that it held ‘substantial doubts’ about its future amid a challenging regulatory environment and ongoing litigation.
Roshan Dharia, CEO of Echo Base and a restructuring adviser, told Cointelegraph after the filing that Bitcoin Depot’s bankruptcy is ‘likely a preview of what the broader crypto ATM industry will face’ over the next several years. He said the traditional model relied on high transaction spreads and light regulatory scrutiny to offset steep compliance, cash-logistics, fraud-remediation, and revenue-sharing costs, and that the equation is breaking down as states impose consumer-protection standards that compress fees, expand operator liability for scams, and raise expectations around transaction monitoring and reimbursement.
Canada Weighs a National Ban
Beyond US borders, federal policymakers in Canada have proposed a total ban on crypto ATMs nationwide. The proposed Canadian policy would still permit residents to buy digital assets from physical money services businesses, but officials framed the ATMs as the ‘primary method for scammers to defraud victims and for criminals to place their cash proceeds of crime.’
