Committee adopts amendments and advances bill to regulate crypto ATMs, set transaction limits and refund rules

The House Finance Committee adopted an amendment and forwarded Senate Bill 79, the Colorado Vending of Digital Assets Act, to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation, 9‑3. The bill would require operators of cryptocurrency kiosks to disclose fees and exchange rates, print receipts and maintain refund processes; the committee adopted an amendment that set a $2,000 daily transaction limit for new customers, a $10,500 limit for existing customers and a 60‑day window for customers to seek refunds or report suspected fraud.

Sponsor Representative Marc Taggart described the measure as “a very basic consumer protection for virtual currency kiosk machines,” saying kiosks had become “a tool for fraud, particularly with our senior population.” Representative Jackson, the bill’s co‑sponsor, said the measure “creates a strong fraud safety net for new users,” and described the committee amendment that raised the new‑customer daily limit to $2,000 to align with federal suspicious‑activity reporting thresholds.

Panel testimony included consumer advocates, law‑enforcement officials and industry representatives. Margaret Locke and Amy Noffsiger testified for AARP and its Fraud Watch Network helpline, citing large reported losses among older Americans and urging limits and refund protections. Mesa County Sergeant Ross Young and Denver Police Detective Eric Neville described investigations that repeatedly trace losses to crypto kiosks and asked for measures to help investigators trace deposits and obtain transaction information. “Every single crypto fraud that my investigators dig into involves the explicit use of crypto ATM kiosks,” Ross Young said.

Industry witnesses supported many consumer‑protection provisions but opposed the proposed limits as written. Chris Ryan of Bitcoin Depot and John Turk of CoinFlip said the bill should avoid thresholds lower than federal reporting requirements and urged licensing, stronger compliance programs and blockchain analytics to detect suspicious transactions. CoinFlip proposed a shorter “new customer” window (72 hours) based on its internal reporting data; Bitcoin Depot said most customers report suspected scams within 72 hours.

Committee members discussed alternatives including a money‑transmitter licensing approach that several industry witnesses and committee members said could be considered later. Sponsors said licensing would take longer to implement and brought the current bill as an immediate step to limit ongoing fraud. The committee adopted amendment L‑8, which set the $2,000 and $10,500 thresholds and the 60‑day reporting window, and then voted to advance the bill to the Committee of the Whole with a favorable recommendation, 9‑3.

The amendment and the committee report do not create a full licensure scheme; sponsors and several committee members said they expect further stakeholder work on licensing and other regulatory tools in coming sessions.