North Dakota Senate passes bill to regulate crypto ATMs

A North Dakota bill that places various safeguards on cryptocurrency ATMs, including a daily transaction cap and mandatory fraud warnings, has passed the Senate.

On March 18, House Bill 1447 cleared the Senate in a 45-to-1 vote, bringing it a step closer to becoming law. The bill, introduced in January, is designed to curb scams and tighten oversight of crypto ATM operators.

If signed into law, the bill would require ATM operators to be licensed as money transmitters and enforce a $2,000 daily transaction limit across their machines. It also mandates fraud warning notices at kiosks and quarterly reports on ATM locations, transaction data, and operator details.

As previously reported by crypto.news, the bill originally proposed a $1,000 daily cap, but lawmakers later adjusted the limit to $2,000 for the first five transactions within 30 days. Now, the Senate has simplified it to a straight $2,000 cap per day.

Additionally, operators must use blockchain analytics to flag suspicious activity and report potential fraud to authorities. 

The bill now heads back to the House for approval of these changes before landing on Governor Kelly Armstrong’s desk.

As crypto ATM scams become more popular, the bill aims to introduce much-needed safeguards to protect residents from financial losses. 

During a Jan. 22 hearing, Lisa Kruse, North Dakota’s financial institutions commissioner, noted that locals had filed 103 crypto scam complaints with the FBI in 2023, with reported losses hitting $6.5 million.

Meanwhile, House Representative Steve Swiontek, who sponsored the bill, argued that the lack of regulation made crypto ATMs an easy target for crypto scammers.

Crypto ATMs are widely available across the US, with nearly 30,000 machines in operation. However, increasing fraud cases have pushed regulators to introduce new laws aimed at cracking down on misuse.

Last week, Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen signed a similar bill into law, tightening rules for crypto ATM operators. The Controllable Electronic Record Fraud Prevention Act, part of Legislative Bill 609, introduced new licensing and reporting requirements to curb fraud.