Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Consumer Protection Crypto topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee approves licensing, waiting periods and rulemaking for crypto kiosks
Summary
The House Revenue Committee advanced House Bill 75, requiring money-transmitter licensing or banking sponsorship for virtual-currency kiosks, mandating receipts and recordkeeping, and adopting committee amendments including a 24-hour hold (48 hours for new customers) to help curb kiosk fraud.
The House Revenue Committee on Feb. 12 approved House Bill 75, a measure to regulate virtual-currency kiosks (commonly called crypto ATMs) in Wyoming by subjecting operators to money-transmitter licensing or operation through a Wyoming-chartered financial institution and by delegating technical consumer-protection rules to the Banking Commission.
Representative Clouston, who introduced the bill, told the committee the measure is intended to give law enforcement and regulators tools to address growing fraud tied to kiosk transactions. Commissioner Jeremiah Bishop (Division of Banking) testified remotely that the division could adopt emergency rules by July 1 to impose location registration, transaction limits, mandatory receipts and blockchain-analytics screening, and that roughly six operators currently run kiosks in Wyoming; three already hold money-transmitter licenses.
Witnesses described multiple recent frauds. "In one instance, the credit union in the past 12 months have had members lose a total of just over $300,000 due to fraud involving these crypto kiosks," said Bobby Frank (Wyoming credit unions). Tom Laycock of AARP told the panel that the FBI received nearly 11,000 complaints of crypto-kiosk fraud in 2024 totaling about $246 million nationwide and that scams typically involve urgent phone calls urging victims to "immediately" transfer funds.
The committee adopted two substantive amendments. Amendment 1 clarified the bill's definitions and scope. Amendment 2, introduced by Representative Roth and amended on the floor, added a 24-hour waiting period before funds are transmitted and a 48-hour waiting period for new customers; supporters said the pause gives law enforcement time to trace wallet addresses and stop transfers. Industry witnesses (CoinFlip, Bitcoin Depot) supported regulation but cautioned statutory holds could be replaced better by flexible emergency rules and urged reliance on blockchain analytics, daily limits and operator-level screening.
The committee approved HB 75 as amended on a roll-call vote (eight "aye," one excused). The Banking Division will begin rulemaking if the bill becomes law.
