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House committee advances HB72 to curb criminal use of cryptocurrency kiosks
Summary
The House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee adopted the second substitute of HB72 and an amendment, sending the measure to the floor. The bill would require licensing and registration of crypto‑kiosk operators, add consumer protections and receipts, mandate investigation reporting and law‑enforcement training, and set staged transaction limits to slow fraud.
The House Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Committee on the morning of the hearing advanced HB72, a package of amendments aimed at preventing the criminal use of cryptocurrency kiosks.
Representative Wilcox, the bill sponsor, told the committee investigators have found crypto‑kiosk transactions tied to large frauds and trafficking. He said investigative data show a high rate of fraudulent transactions routed through such kiosks: "Upwards of 90 plus percent of, that the investigation has discovered that money that had been sent through these crypto ATMs was fraudulent," he said. The substitute combines measures from both the House and Senate and includes law‑enforcement training, kiosk licensing and registration, requirements for receipts and consumer warnings, mandated investigation reporting, and staged transaction limits — $2,000 for new customers in the first three days and $5,000 for established customers — intended to slow rapid withdrawals and provide time for intervention.
Law‑enforcement witnesses and consumer advocates urged passage. Stuart Young, criminal deputy attorney general, thanked sponsors and said caps and warning labels will help protect older Utahns from scams. Lehi Minson, chief investigator for the Division of Consumer Protection, described a family case in which his father unwittingly deposited about $50,000 into kiosks after a scam call and urged the committee that the problem "isn't hypothetical." Representatives of AARP and the Utah Bankers Association spoke in support and cited national fraud statistics and local casework.
Committee members clarified implementation details: licensing and registration would be handled by the Department of Commerce, and the bill leaves decisions about which officers receive specialized training to each agency. Representative Ballard moved adoption of the second substitute, the committee adopted House Amendment 1 to the substitute, and the committee then passed the second substitute as amended by voice vote.
The committee record shows broad stakeholder support from law enforcement, consumer protection officials and financial institutions. The bill now goes to the House floor for further consideration.
