Hawaii has enacted an October 1 ban on cash-to-crypto kiosk transactions after the FBI recorded 92 related complaints and $3.85 million in adjusted losses among state residents in 2025.
Summary
- Cash purchases of crypto at Hawaii kiosks will become illegal on Oct. 1, 2026.
- The FBI recorded 92 Hawaii kiosk complaints and $3.85 million in adjusted losses during 2025.
- Hawaii had 57 crypto ATMs across four islands as of Aug. 12.
- Operators may still offer crypto-to-cash and crypto-to-crypto transactions under the law.
Hawaii’s enacted House Bill 1642, signed by Governor Josh Green on July 9 as Act 224, prohibits operators from owning, managing, or running a kiosk that accepts U.S. currency in return for a digital financial asset.
The restriction will apply from Oct. 1, with each prohibited transaction treated as a separate offense under the state’s consumer protection law. Hawaii lawmakers passed the final version on May 6 before sending it to Green.
Although some reports have described the measure as a total crypto ATM ban, the enacted text covers deposits used to buy digital assets rather than every service offered by the machines. Operators may continue running kiosks that accept crypto in exchange for another digital asset or U.S. currency.
As a result, Hawaii residents will no longer be able to insert cash into a kiosk to purchase Bitcoin or another cryptocurrency, but the law does not prevent them from selling crypto for dollars at an eligible machine. It also does not prohibit buying, selling, or holding digital assets through online platforms that remain legally available in the state.
Hawaii crypto ATM law targets cash deposits
Under Act 224, a digital financial asset transaction kiosk means an electronic device that can accept or dispense U.S. currency through cash or a payment card in exchange for a digital asset. The definition excludes certain merchant rewards, assets used only within online games, and securities registered or exempt from registration under federal or Hawaii securities law.
Hawaii lawmakers focused on the cash deposit function because scammers commonly direct victims to withdraw banknotes and send the money through a kiosk. According to the legislature’s findings, criminals often pose as government officers, bank workers, technical support staff, or company representatives before giving victims step-by-step payment instructions.
Once a victim reaches a machine, the scammer may remain on the phone, supply a wallet address or QR code, and explain how to get past warnings displayed by the operator, the findings said. After the transaction clears, criminals can route the digital assets through other wallets or offshore platforms, limiting the victim’s chance of recovering the money.
The legislature cited investigations by the attorneys general of Iowa and the District of Columbia, which found that fraudulent activity accounted for a large share of transactions at some operators. Lawmakers said findings from those investigations placed the rate as high as 90%, although the figure does not represent every kiosk or transaction in the United States.
CoinATMRadar data showed that Hawaii had 57 cryptocurrency ATMs and kiosks operating across four main islands as of Aug. 12. Operators will need to disable the affected deposit function or stop offering machines that accept dollars for crypto before the October deadline.
FBI data put Hawaii kiosk losses at $3.85 million
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center reported in May that Hawaii residents filed 92 complaints involving cryptocurrency kiosks in 2025, producing about $3.85 million in adjusted losses.
Nationally, IC3 received 13,460 kiosk-related complaints involving $388.98 million in adjusted losses during the same year. Complaint numbers increased by 23% from 2024, while reported losses rose by 58%.
More than half of the 2025 complaints came from people older than 50, with their reported losses exceeding $302 million, according to the bureau. The age data support Hawaii lawmakers’ finding that scammers often target older residents with urgent payment demands and impersonation schemes.
IC3 cautioned that its state totals cover complaints in which a cryptocurrency kiosk appeared somewhere in the fraud. A case may also involve bank transfers, payment apps, or other transaction methods, meaning the full loss listed in a complaint cannot always be attributed only to the kiosk.
Separate figures from the FBI’s 2025 annual report showed that Americans submitted 826 cryptocurrency-related complaints from Hawaii, with losses of approximately $80 million. Unlike the kiosk table, the annual state figure covers several forms of crypto-enabled crime and should not be treated as a measure of ATM fraud alone.
For U.S. consumers, the bureau advises against sending cryptocurrency to anyone known only through phone calls or online messages. It also tells users not to scan a QR code supplied by a stranger or provide funds to callers claiming to represent a government agency, bank, or company without independently verifying the request.
State crypto ATM rules have split between bans and limits
Hawaii has chosen a narrower transaction ban than Indiana, Tennessee, and Minnesota, where state laws prohibit crypto kiosk operations rather than only cash-to-crypto deposits.
Minnesota’s statewide prohibition took effect on Aug. 1 after state authorities recorded 134 complaints and nearly $1 million in losses over three years, as crypto.news reported earlier this month. Existing machines had to stop processing transactions, while operators have until Dec. 31 to remove kiosks accessible to the public.
Tennessee began enforcing its own prohibition on July 1. Georgia took a different route on the same date by retaining the machines under transaction caps, customer warnings, and refund duties for some fraud victims, according to earlier state coverage.
Indiana’s ban had already entered into force in March. Delaware and New Jersey lawmakers have also advanced proposals to prohibit crypto ATMs, though neither proposal had become law as of August.
Other states permit the machines but require licensing, warning screens, receipts, holding periods, daily limits or refunds in defined fraud cases. A crypto.news state rule review published Aug. 3 found that U.S. kiosk oversight ranged from complete prohibitions to states without a dedicated regulatory system.
At the federal level, crypto kiosk operators that qualify as money services businesses must register with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network and comply with Bank Secrecy Act duties. According to FinCEN, those obligations include an anti-money laundering program, transaction records, suspicious activity reports, and sanctions controls, but federal registration does not prevent states from imposing stricter operating rules.
Enforcement begins with each prohibited transaction
Hawaii placed the new provision in Chapter 481B of its Revised Statutes, which governs unfair and deceptive business practices. The law classifies every cash-to-crypto transaction conducted in breach of the restriction as its own offense, rather than treating continued operation as a single violation.
The final version removed the need for a complete shutdown when a machine can support permitted services. Operators may retain crypto-to-cash withdrawals and exchanges between digital assets, provided they do not accept U.S. currency from customers purchasing crypto after Oct. 1.
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