Key Takeaways
- Grosse Pointe Farms proposes strict transaction caps for brand new bitcoin ATM customers to fight rising scams.
- FBI knowledge exhibits $246.7 million in crypto ATM rip-off losses in 2024, closely impacting seniors.
- States like Nebraska and Illinois have enacted legal guidelines mandating caps, fraud warnings, and operator licensing.
A wave of bitcoin ATM-related scams has prompted Grosse Pointe Farms, a suburb of Detroit, to draft an ordinance imposing transaction limits on new customers of digital-asset kiosks.
Below the proposed rule, new clients can be restricted to $1,000 per 24 hours and $5,000 over 14 days, in an try and curb losses from scams that exploit unfamiliarity with bitcoin.
Current instances
The transfer follows a number of high-profile instances, together with an aged resident who misplaced $20,000 by sending money by a bitcoin ATM in response to a rip-off.
In response to FBI knowledge, 10,956 complaints involving crypto ATMs have been filed in 2024, with reported losses reaching $246.7 million. Of those, people over 60 accounted for almost 43.5% of losses.
Council member Lev Wooden defined the urgency:
“The place there’s cash, there’s alternative.”
No ATMS in metropolis limits
Regardless of having no bitcoin ATMs inside metropolis limits, Grosse Pointe Farms goals to behave preemptively, citing related actions in different states.
Nebraska, Rhode Island, and Illinois have enacted legal guidelines mandating transaction caps, fraud warnings, and in some instances, licensing for operators.
Nebraska requires crypto ATM operators to publish fraud notices, cap every day transactions for brand new clients, and provide refunds for reported fraud inside 30 days.
Business responds
Business gamers resembling Bitcoin Depot argue that overly strict caps might drive fraudsters to construction smaller transactions to keep away from detection.
The corporate claims its machines show as much as 9 rip-off warnings earlier than permitting a transaction and that it gives 24/7 assist and legislation enforcement cooperation.
AARP and different advocacy teams assist licensing, every day limits, obligatory fraud warnings, and clear charge disclosures as normal necessities. Whereas Michigan at present lacks regulation for bitcoin ATMs, the push for stricter oversight is gaining momentum as rip-off losses mount nationwide.