North Dakota state representatives want to control cryptocurrency ATMs better while stopping scams that trick residents. House Bill 1447 wants the state to set rules on crypto ATM withdrawals and fees and require security and fraud warnings for every transaction.
Bill proposes withdrawal and fee limits
The new law restricts customers to a one-hundred-dollar maximum withdrawal from crypto ATMs daily. Under the new rules, transaction fees would not exceed $5 or 3% of the transaction amount, depending on which limit comes first. All crypto ATMs must show users fraud warnings at the start of every transaction.
Addressing rising Crypto fraud complaints
The government has taken this step to fight against growing thefts of cryptocurrency. Lisa Kruse, commissioner of North Dakota’s Department of Financial Institutions, stated residents sent 103 reports of crypto scams to the FBI in 2023, generating $6.5 million in damages. In 2022, the FBI found that victims lost $5.6 billion to crypto scams, with $189 million stolen through crypto ATMs across the US.
During his presentation, Representative Swiontek explained that the absence of proper security measures in today’s crypto ATMs attracts fraudsters as targets. The bill won backing from advocacy organizations such as AARP because they want to shield senior citizens and other vulnerable people from online criminals.
Industry concerns over Potential impact
Operators in the crypto ATM business see problems with the bill even though it won support because of its customer protections. As assistant general counsel at CoinFlip, Kevin Lolli shows how crypto ATMs charge customers between 8% and 20% because running these machines costs a lot. According to next-generation ATM operator support knowledge, Kevin Lolli’s regulatory restrictions would pressure North Dakota crypto ATM operators to stop operations, making the service harder to access.
He explained that existing security measures at crypto ATMs trigger federal notification when illegal transactions surpass specific thresholds. According to its advocates, strict limits and rules on crypto operations would slow new money-making methods and weaken the state’s digital currency system.