A bill to ban cryptocurrency kiosks passed in the Minnesota House on Monday as part of an effort to crack down on scams that officials say target seniors.
The legislation passed 127-7. It was approved by the Senate earlier this month and now heads to Gov. Tim Walz's desk for his signature.
The kiosks — which look like ATMs — convert funds into cryptocurrency. Law enforcement officials say the crypto becomes difficult to trace because transactions typically lead overseas.
"We're hearing directly from law enforcement that these crypto kiosks have become a prime tool for scammers to target some of our most vulnerable neighbors, especially seniors living on fixed incomes," said Rep. Erin Koegel, who authored the bill. "When Minnesotans are losing their life savings in transactions that are nearly impossible to trace or recover, we have a responsibility to act."
Koegel said Minnesota has 350 licensed cryptocurrency kiosks operated by eight companies. One of the companies, CoinFlip, said there had been 12,000 transactions last year in the state and less than 1% of them led to refund requests from customers.
Larry Lipka, general counsel for CoinFlip, testified at the House in February that "no one here is saying that the kiosk operators themselves are the bad actors. It's the scammers."
A 2024 report by the FBI showed nearly 11,000 complaints involving cryptocurrency kiosks nationwide, with more than $240 million in losses. The vast majority of complaints involved people over the age of 60.
The bill was backed by various law enforcement agencies as well as the Minnesota Department of Commerce.