Crypto ATM operator Bitcoin Depot files for bankruptcy
Bitcoin Depot, formerly the world’s largest operator of cryptocurrency ATMs, filed for bankruptcy Sunday, in the latest blow to an industry that has been plagued by allegations of facilitating hundreds of millions of dollars of fraud annually.
The company has taken its network — comprising some 9,700 kiosks — offline, CEO Alex Holmes said in a statement on its website, and will cease operations.
Holmes cited “increasingly stringent compliance obligations, including new transaction limits, and in some jurisdictions, outright restrictions or bans” on crypto ATMs that have made the company’s business infeasible.
Local and state governments across the United States have tightened restrictions on the machines, which allow cash to be exchanged for cryptocurrency at an automated kiosk similar to a bank ATM. Authorities have opened investigations into crypto ATM operators in response to concerns that the machines had become an easy way for scammers to take advantage of unsuspecting victims.
In 2025, consumers reported to the FBI $389 million of losses to scams involving the machines, which can be used to quickly move victims’ funds overseas and beyond the reach of U.S. law enforcement.
cryptocurrency Trump administration curbs state oversight of crypto industry May 15, 2026
CRYPTOCURRENCY Retailers keep cashing in on crypto ATMs as scams surge Dec 17, 2025
Recommended reading cryptocurrency Trump administration curbs state oversight of crypto industry May 15, 2026 IMPACT Massachusetts sues Bitcoin Depot, alleging the crypto ATM operator knowingly facilitated crypto scams Feb 26, 2026 CRYPTOCURRENCY Retailers keep cashing in on crypto ATMs as scams surge Dec 17, 2025
