9,000 Crypto Kiosks Go Dark Amid Major Crackdown on Fraud

Bitcoin Depot, once the country’s largest cryptocurrency kiosk operator, filed for bankruptcy this month, citing tougher new regulations and compliance obligations that have made its business model unsustainable. The company announced that its network of more than 9,000 crypto kiosks worldwide — located in the U.S., Canada and Australia — has been shut down.

The collapse follows AARP’s calls to lawmakers to clean up the crypto kiosk industry and stop the explosion of devastating scams facilitated by these machines. “These kiosks were completely unregulated — it was the Wild, Wild West,” says Bill Sweeney, AARP’s senior vice president of government affairs, “and like with most scams, our members were most at risk because they’re the ones who’ve been saving money their entire lives.”

“A nest egg — that’s a really attractive target for a criminal,” Sweeney adds.

Working alongside law enforcement and policymakers, AARP has helped expose the scale of fraud linked to crypto kiosks while leading the push for stronger safeguards. Those efforts have translated into action: Three states — Indiana, Tennessee and Minnesota — have banned the machines, while 27 other states have enacted laws to regulate them. Momentum is also building in states that have not yet passed laws, as well as in Congress.

Widespread misuse targets older Americans

Cryptocurrency kiosks — often referred to as crypto ATMs — are machines that convert cash into digital currency and typically look like standard ATMs. They are commonly found in everyday locations, such as grocery stores or gas stations, and have increasingly been used in fraud schemes over the past few years because transactions move quickly and funds can be transferred to overseas exchanges that are not required to follow U.S. regulations.

The scale of the problem is significant. The kiosks — including those operated by Bitcoin Depot, plus others run by companies still operating — have been used in scams that led to more than $389 million in stolen funds in 2025, according to the FBI. More than 13,460 complaints were filed with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, which noted a “clear and consistent rise” in fraud using the machines.

Investigations have reinforced those findings. A probe by Iowa’s attorney general in 2025, for example, found that at least 94 percent of transactions using Bitcoin Depot and CoinFlip machines were fraudulent. The scams cost Iowans about $20 million in less than three years.

Older adults bear the brunt of such scams. In cases where the victim’s age was known, individuals age 60 and older accounted for 76 percent of the losses, according to 2025 FBI data.