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Grosse Pointe Farms, a small town just outside Detroit, has passed a local ordinance aimed at controlling crypto ATM use—even though the town doesn’t have any yet. The city council voted unanimously on the new rules after hearing about a scam that targeted a resident in nearby St. Clair Shores.

The incident involved a crypto ATM, which scammers instructed a local to use for sending money. That case helped push council members to act early, hoping to protect their residents from similar schemes.

New Rules Target Scam Risks

During Tuesday’s city council meeting, concerns were raised about how easily scammers convince people—especially the elderly—to use crypto ATMs to send money. Council member Lev Wood said the machines create a situation that lacks transparency, making people easy targets.

The new rules require any crypto kiosk in town to be registered with the Department of Public Safety. Operators must also apply for a business license and provide written warnings on the machines about the risks of fraud and irreversible transactions.

One of the biggest parts of the ordinance is a spending cap for new users. The law sets a $1,000 daily limit and a $5,000 cap over the first 14 days of use. After that period, those restrictions are lifted. The idea, according to city attorney Bill Burgess, is to give new users time to understand how the machines work before making larger transactions.

Several other states are also taking action. Arizona, Nebraska, California, and Washington have all stepped in this year to add restrictions or outright bans on certain types of crypto ATM operations.

Coinflip Shares Firsthand Scam Story

Carson Gat, a representative from Coinflip—a Chicago-based digital currency ATM operator—attended the meeting to give his perspective. He told the council about a time he personally helped stop an elderly woman from getting scammed at one of their machines.

Gat said Coinflip has explored similar limits on new users to reduce fraud, since most scams happen during a customer’s first visit. Coinflip has been operating in Michigan since 2019 and was granted a money transmitter license in April.

While the company didn’t oppose the town’s new rules, it did highlight the importance of finding a balance between access and safety. Gat’s appearance also added weight to the council’s concern that this type of scam isn’t just theory—it’s happening.

State And National Action Picking Up

This move by Grosse Pointe Farms comes after Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel issued a statewide alert about crypto ATM scams back in April. Nessel’s office has warned residents to stay away from machines when someone instructs them to deposit money under pressure.

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Features writer

Connor Sephton

Features writer

Connor Sephton

About Author

Connor Sephton is a journalist based in London, who also works for Sky News and the BBC as a radio newsreader and online reporter. He has covered crypto since 2018 — reporting from major conferences…

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Elena Bozhkova

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Elena Bozhkova

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Elena is the Features Lead at Cryptonews.com. With a Master’s degree in science journalism from City University, London, she is passionate about exploring complex topics in the world of technology.

Last updated: 

June 28, 2025

When a family was scammed out of $25,000 at a Bitcoin ATM in Texas, law enforcement agents didn’t mess around.

Detectives used power tools to break into the machine and recover the physical cash inside — with a grand total of $31,900 seized.

Although helping a fraud victim is certainly to be applauded, this has a feel of robbing Peter to pay Paul. Such an act doesn’t bring the scammer responsible to justice — it just harms the small business owner who owns the machine.

Nonetheless, stories like this powerfully illustrate the crackdown on Bitcoin ATMs that’s taking place across America right now.

Spokane in Washington State has actually banned them altogether, but other states and cities are instead proposing laws that would make it harder for fraudsters to drain the life savings of impressionable consumers.

Over in Illinois, any cash-to-crypto conversions facilitated through these ATMs would need to take a note of the address where funds have been sent. In theory, this could help detectives track down scammers at a later date, but it’s likely many seasoned criminals will use obfuscation tools to cover their tracks.

Perhaps a more sensible proposal comes from Vermont, which has passed a law that imposes daily transaction limits of $1,000 on Bitcoin ATMs. This would go a long way to limiting the amount of money victims lose.

Meanwhile, the likes of Nebraska have moved to license ATM operators. Not only does this mean they need to provide quarterly reports with transaction data, but fees are capped at 18% to prevent impressionable consumers from being ripped off.

A Growing Problem

The Federal Trade Commission has made its views on Bitcoin ATMs clear — describing them as a “payment portal for scammers.”

Official figures show fraud losses from these machines hit $12 million in 2020, surging almost tenfold to $114 million by 2023. Incomplete figures showed losses topped $66 million in the first six months of 2024 alone, indicating it was set to be yet another record-breaking year.

FTC research also sheds light on how victims are lured in, how much they lose, and who tends to be the most vulnerable. Scammers often attempt to impersonate governments and businesses, or pretend they’re from tech support. Median losses stand at an “exceptionally high” $10,000, with the government body adding:

“In the first half of the year, people 60 and over were more than three times as likely as younger adults to report a loss using a BTM. In fact, more than two of every three dollars reported lost to fraud using these machines was lost by an older adult.”

Put another way, there are more victims over 60 than in all other age groups combined.

Lawmakers in the U.S. Senate are also attempting to build upon the tightened laws being rolled out at a state and local level — led by Illinois Senator Dick Durbin.

He’s introduced the Crypto ATM Fraud Prevention Act, which would bring in literate measures designed to protect the public — while attempting to limit inconvenience for law-abiding users.

New users would be prevented from spending more than $2,000 a day at one of these machines, rising to $10,000 in a 14-day period. Operators would also need to have a detailed conversation whenever a new user is trying to complete a transaction with a value of over $500. Crucially though, they would also be entitled to refunds if a police report is filed within 30 days.

Reading between the lines, this is a bill that puts the onus on ATM operators to keep an eye on what’s happening in their stores — and intervene if something looks suspicious.

The clock is ticking to get the Crypto ATM Fraud Prevention Act signed into law. Durbin has confirmed that he won’t be seeking re-election during the midterms in 2026, with the 80-year-old Democrat resigning after decades of service.

Durbin also offered an amendment when the GENIUS Act was winding its way through the Senate, warning:

“Enough is enough. I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle: listen to the people you represent, particularly the senior citizens who are losing their life savings to these scams, and realize that with 30,000 crypto ATMs across the country, more and more of this will occur.”

It remains to be seen whether any of the efforts to prevent crypto ATM losses will make a difference. As Bitcoin’s price rises, and flirts with all-time highs, a greater number of opportunistic fraudsters will take the opportunity to strike.

The Australian government’s financial intelligence agency has imposed $5,000 cash withdrawal limits on crypto ATMs.

The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) adopted the new rules and refused to renew the registration of one crypto ATM operator, Harro’s Empires, after an agency task force flagged “worrying trends” in digital asset ATM compliance, according to a new press release.

AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas says the task force noticed customer behavior that resembled scams, fraud and other illicit activity.

“The task force has uncovered disturbing trends, which have confirmed that cryptocurrency ATMs are being used for scam/fraud-related transactions. Surprisingly, the 60 to 70 age group was identified as one of the most prolific users of crypto ATMs in Australia.

It is a huge concern that people in this demographic are overrepresented as customers using cash to purchase cryptocurrency and, as evidence suggests, that a large number of 60-70 year old users are victims of scam activity.”

AUSTRAC’s Cryptocurrency Task Force notes that 60-70-year-olds accounted for 29% of all crypto ATM transactions by value.

Australia had only 23 operating crypto ATMs in 2019 and 60 in 2022, but now has more than 1,800. Nearly 150,000 transactions occur annually across those machines, 99% of which are cash deposits to purchase crypto like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH) and the stablecoin USDT, according to AUSTRAC.

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In a February 17 statement, officers seized around 50,000 AUD ($31,800) worth of trading cards and several firearms in the process.

According to Victoria Police’s North West Metro Regional Crime Squad, the group is accused of breaking into ATMs in Brunswick, Hoppers Crossing, Bentleigh, Werribee, and Vermont.

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Authorities also believe they raided trading card stores in Epping, Moonee Ponds, and Eumemmerring since mid-January, stealing cards from brands like Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokémon, Dragon Ball Z, AFL, and NBA.

Search warrants were carried out in Reservoir, Coburg North, Greensborough, and South Morang, leading to the seizure of five firearms, ammunition, around 100 stolen car keys, and a pill press machine.

Two men are facing multiple charges. A 32-year-old from Epping faces charges related to commercial burglary, vehicle theft, and methamphetamine possession. Meanwhile, a 37-year-old from Reservoir has been charged with 14 counts of burglary and firearm offenses.

Police say the suspects may be connected to a larger Middle Eastern crime syndicate that directed their activities. Two other individuals, aged 33 and 46, were questioned and later released as the investigation continues.

Detective Inspector Patrick Watkinson credited the arrests to cooperation between law enforcement, the trading card community, and business owners.

Meanwhile, an international investigation exposed a $100 million crypto laundering network. How? Read the full story.