Oak Park council hears city attorney on cryptocurrency ATM rules, tables action pending study

Oak Park city attorney Courtney Krause briefed the council on possible local rules for cryptocurrency ATM machines and asked whether the council wanted staff to draft an ordinance for future consideration.

Krause said the primary objective of such an ordinance would be to protect public health and safety by reducing fraud risk and ensuring consumers see warnings before using machines. "There are currently 6 known cryptocurrency ATM machines located in the city of Oak Park," Krause said, and she told council that the Department of Public Safety had not received reports of fraud tied to those machines to date.

Krause reviewed regulatory options under Michigan law: requiring business licenses, machine registration with public safety, receipts at the machine and mandated warning signs. She also flagged pending state legislation in Lansing that, if enacted, could prohibit local regulation of cryptocurrency and thus render any local ordinance unenforceable.

Council member Stephanie Crawford asked whether existing operators would need to shut down while coming into compliance; Krause replied, "They would not have to shut down…They would be given a period of time in which to come into compliance." Several council members expressed reservations about imposing local regulations that state or federal law might soon preempt. Council member Solomon Radner said he preferred waiting for state or federal authorities to act; Mayor Pro Tem Julie Edgar said she felt uncertain about the technology and the city's capacity to enforce a local ordinance.

After discussion, the council moved to table the issue for further study and did not adopt an ordinance at this meeting. Staff will return with more information if council directs them to do so.