Florida Holds Crypto ATM Operators Liable for Scam Refunds

Florida enacted Chapter 2026-178 (HB 505), a law that creates operating rules and a conditional refund right for virtual currency kiosk businesses in the state. Most operating requirements take effect Jan. 1, 2027. The provision requiring kiosk businesses to register before operating becomes effective March 1, 2027. A business operating in Florida on or before Jan. 1, 2027, must submit a registration application to the Florida Office of Financial Regulation within 30 days after that date. Licensed money transmitters do not need a separate kiosk registration but must follow the operating rules.

Under the law, kiosk operators must display a conspicuous fraud warning and ask customers whether they completed same‑day transactions at other kiosks before a transaction begins. Operators must offer a physical or electronic receipt that includes business contact information, transaction amount, transaction hash, wallets involved, fees, any exchange rate used, any liability statement, and the kiosk’s refund policy.

The statute sets daily transaction caps of $2,000 for new customers across one or more kiosks and $10,000 per day for existing customers. The law requires kiosk businesses to keep records that allow them to determine whether a customer is new or returning and to track same‑day activity across their machines.

The refund provision applies to a customer’s first virtual currency kiosk transaction. To qualify, the customer must notify the kiosk business and a law enforcement agency or governmental body within 60 days and provide proof of alleged fraud, such as a police report or notarized affidavit. If those conditions are met, the kiosk business must issue a full refund within 72 hours.

The Office of Financial Regulation may request evidence of compliance with the rules during registration renewal or when reviewing inactive registrations. Operators will need processes to receive and document fraud reports, verify first‑time transactions, and record refunds for regulatory review.

A December 2024 OFR review identified 26 known virtual currency kiosk providers in Florida, of which nine held money‑transmitter licenses. The review noted that some peer‑to‑peer kiosk operators were not previously required to hold a Florida money‑transmitter license when they did not act as intermediaries.

Consumer complaint data cited in regulatory materials show 1,213 Florida complaints to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center in 2025 involving cryptocurrency kiosks, with $32.8 million in adjusted losses. Nationally, the center reported 13,460 complaints and nearly $389 million in adjusted losses that year. State figures also note more than 3,100 crypto ATMs and over $33 million reported in crypto ATM‑related losses across five years.

On the federal level, legislators introduced the Stop Crypto ATM Scams Act on June 11 to establish national standards that include daily transaction limits, warnings, receipts, anti‑fraud measures and refunds; that bill has not become law. Florida’s statute ties the new consumer notifications, transaction limits, receipts, registration and refund duties to regulatory oversight and registration requirements, with most provisions becoming enforceable in 2027.