Council advances ordinance to ban on‑site virtual currency kiosks, citing fraud risk and local incidents
Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts
Subscribe
Summary
City staff introduced an ordinance to prohibit placement and use of on‑site virtual currency kiosks after staff cited FBI statistics and local incidents of kiosk‑related fraud. The item was laid over to Nov. 12 for second reading and public hearing.
The council on Nov. 5 heard a staff presentation proposing an ordinance to prohibit the placement and operation of virtual currency (cryptocurrency) kiosks within the city of St. Paul. Staff said kiosks function like an ATM for virtual currency, are often placed in high‑traffic retail locations, and have been linked to a substantial share of kiosk‑specific fraud losses.
Tim Greenfield, chief policy officer for the council staff, reviewed national and local statistics: he cited FBI figures for 2024 of nearly 150,000 complaints referencing cryptocurrency with $9.3 billion in reported losses, and said kiosk‑specific fraud accounted for approximately $246 million of those reported losses; reported Minnesota kiosk‑related losses stood in staff materials at roughly $91 million with nearly two thousand victims identified nationally and an increase year over year. Greenfield emphasized that state statute regulates kiosks as electronic agents of licensees but that local leaders are seeking to restrict kiosk placement because disclosures and receipts have proved insufficient to prevent fraud.
Staff also described a recent local intervention: a city attorney in civilian clothing noticed two elderly victims attempting to use a kiosk to send a large sum and intervened to prevent an immediate loss. Council members and staff said the ordinance will not ban virtual‑currency transactions generally but would prohibit kiosk transactions and kiosk placement. The proposed penalty follows the usual legislative code violation structure. The council laid the ordinance over to Nov. 12 for a public hearing and second reading.
Why this matters: kiosk‑facilitated fraud has become a recognized national and local problem, with victims often described as seniors or otherwise vulnerable. A local prohibition would remove an easy conduit for scammers to convert cash into virtual currency on demand.
What happens next: staff will prepare the ordinance for a November 12 second reading and public hearing; legal details and enforcement will be clarified before final adoption.