Peabody committee adopts ordinance banning on-site bitcoin kiosks, orders removal within seven days

The Peabody City Legal Affairs Committee voted unanimously to adopt an ordinance that prohibits “virtual currency kiosks” — self-service machines that exchange cash for cryptocurrencies — and requires any existing machines in the city to be removed within seven days of the ordinance's effective date.

District Attorney Paul Tucker told the committee the machines have become a preferred payment channel for scammers and urged local action. "The Federal Trade Commission has called it a payment portal for scams," Tucker said, adding that once money is fed into a Bitcoin machine "chances of getting it back, probably about 1 or 2%."

The ordinance mirrors language used by other North Shore municipalities and would make it unlawful to host, allow, operate or locate a virtual currency kiosk within Peabody. The ordinance text read into the record makes the Peabody Police Department responsible for enforcement and…