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Sponsor recounts parent's scam as committee hears broad proposal to regulate virtual-currency kiosks

Senate Labor and Commerce Committee · March 2, 2026

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Summary

Senator Kathy Tilton described her mother’s cryptocurrency-kiosk scam and introduced SB 249, a bill that would require kiosk licensing, transaction limits ($1,000 daily, $10,000 monthly), fee caps (3%), refunds for victims, identity verification and reporting requirements; the bill was set aside for further consideration.

Senator Kathy Tilton opened discussion of Senate Bill 249 by recounting a personal fraud incident in which her mother's hearing aids answered a phone call that used an AI-rendered version of Tilton's voice and directed the elder to withdraw cash and deposit it into a cryptocurrency kiosk to pay a so-called lawyer. Tilton said the experience — and statewide loss figures — motivated the bill: "In Alaska, in 2023, Alaskans age 60 and older reported more than $8,700,000 in losses," she said, and "all internet-enabled crime in Alaska last year exceeded over $26,000,000."

Heath Hilliard summarized the bill's sectional structure. Key consumer-protection and operational provisions he described include mandatory licensing and operational oversight; transaction limits of $1,000 per day and $10,000 per 30-day period; fee caps of 3% per transaction; mandatory refunds for victims who file a police report within 90 days, with operators required to pay refunds within 72 hours of the complaint; disclosures and customer support (live support from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily); identity verification requirements and blockchain analytics to block high-risk wallets; quarterly and annual reporting to regulators and law enforcement access to operator data; and civil penalties for noncompliance. Hilliard said localities could adopt stricter rules so long as they do not directly conflict with state law.

Committee members questioned operator liability, potential abuse by victims acting in concert with scammers, and whether other states had passed similar laws; Hilliard said the bill is an amalgam of multiple states' statutes and uses an AARP model as drafting guidance, and that kiosk operators planned to meet with the committee later in the week. Tracy Reno, director of the Division of Banking and Securities, told the committee the division regulates money transmission in Alaska, estimated about 76 kiosks in the state run by roughly six licensed money-transmitter companies, and described the practical difficulty of recovering funds once they move rapidly through wallets and across jurisdictions.

Senator Tilton thanked the committee and said the bill is intended to put guardrails around an emerging payment method used in fraud. The committee set SB 249 aside for further consideration and will take additional testimony and technical follow-up before scheduling next steps.