Tennessee Becomes Second State to Outlaw Bitcoin, Crypto ATMs

Tennessee has grow to be the second U.S. state to outlaw Bitcoin ATMs, making it a prison offense within the Volunteer State to personal or function the machines that federal authorities have recognized as a vector committing fraud towards the aged.

Whether or not operators’ kiosks permit clients to buy Bitcoin or different digital belongings with money, they’ve till July 1 to drag the plug below Home Invoice 2505, which Tennessee Governor Invoice Lee signed into regulation on April 13 following the laws’s introduction earlier this 12 months.

The laws was co-sponsored by Republican state representatives Cameron Sexton and Jay Reedy. In a March statement, Sexton stated the kiosks “have grow to be a gateway for scammers to use Tennesseans, particularly our seniors.”

Sexton famous that victims defrauded whereas utilizing Bitcoin ATMs usually have little hope of recovering their cash as soon as it’s gone. That was across the time that native authorities warned of a rip-off the place victims had misplaced $4 million to abroad scammers posing as regulation enforcement.

Reedy, an authorized grasp beef producer, stated “Crypto ATMs have given scammers a quick and simple option to goal our residents and scare them into draining their financial savings.”

The two-page bill, which was launched in February, classifies violations as a Class A misdemeanor, on par in Tennessee with easy drug possession and home assault.

In whole, Tennessee hosts 651 Bitcoin ATMs, with a majority of them clustered round Nashville, the state’s most populous metropolis and capital, in accordance with Coin ATM Radar. The places vary from fuel stations and smoke outlets to liquor shops.

In response to FBI numbers launched this month, People aged over 60 misplaced $257 million to scams involving Bitcoin ATMs final 12 months, a 58% enhance year-over-year. Residents below 30, for comparability, misplaced $6.6 million to that kind of rip-off in 2025.

In March, Indiana turned the primary U.S. state to impose a sweeping ban on Bitcoin ATMs, per WLFI. The publication cited one regulation enforcement official who stated, “The variety of experiences has doubled every year for the final 4 years.”

Amid an uptick in scams, a number of states have handed laws imposing transaction limits and mandating refunds for victims. In Minnesota, lawmakers are weighing legislation that will observe Tennessee’s lead and ban Bitcoin ATMs throughout the state.