The Year in Bitcoin and Crypto ATMs 2025: Power Tools, Scams and Calls for Action
Bitcoin and crypto ATMs faced heightened scrutiny in 2025, as authorities and lawmakers tried to confront a growing number of scams.
In brief
- Some crypto ATMs were targeted by law enforcement in 2025.
- Meanwhile, some states took action against Bitcoin ATM operators.
- There were some renewed calls for restrictions on Capitol Hill.
Crypto ATMs faced heightened scrutiny in 2025, as authorities and lawmakers tried to confront a growing number of scams facilitated by these machines in the U.S.
Some officials took matters into their own hands with power tools, while two attorneys general brought lawsuits against several of the biggest firms in the space. Meanwhile, agencies and other entities issued consumer alerts addressing the elderly.
Crypto ATM operators say their machines provide a valuable service, allowing anyone to buy digital assets like Bitcoin with physical cash. However, critics argue that these firms could do more to prevent older Americans from losing funds to scams—even if that’s bad for business.
Last year, Americans reported $246 million in losses from crypto ATMs to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, a 99% increase compared to the year prior, according to an annual report. Around 43% of those losses stemmed from Americans over the age of 60.
The scam is fairly straightforward: Older Americans are withdrawing cash from their bank accounts, converting it into crypto using operators’ machines, and then sending it to people who are impersonating the government, a business, or workers in tech support.
Still, some renditions are more creative than others, including a scam in Massachusetts where residents lost money to people demanding crypto payments for supposedly missing jury duty.
The irreversible nature of crypto transactions makes it challenging for victims to recover funds once scammers disappear, while the fine print of user agreements associated with these machines has emerged as another potential barrier in court.
The Iowa Supreme Court, for example, found in two cases this year that a crypto ATM operator was entitled to keep the cash associated with fraud, because the company’s terms and services require users to say they own the digital wallet receiving funds—not third-parties.
“Once that transaction is completed, when the user inserts their cash and their crypto is funded into the wallet of their choosing, that ends our involvement in the transaction,” Chris Ryan, chief legal officer of crypto ATM operator Bitcoin Depot, told Decrypt in June.