Overview
- Rep. Erin Koegel introduced HF 3642, which received a House Commerce Finance and Policy Committee hearing this week and was laid over for further consideration.
- The measure would prohibit placing or operating any physical virtual currency kiosk in Minnesota and would repeal the state’s 2024 kiosk rules, while leaving online crypto transactions unaffected.
- The Minnesota Department of Commerce endorsed the bill and reported 70 kiosk-related complaints last year with about $540,000 in losses, with refunds reaching only a fraction of what victims lost.
- Law enforcement described scammers coaching mostly older victims through repeated cash-to-crypto transfers, sometimes directing them across state lines to bypass limits, with funds often unrecoverable once moved overseas.
- Industry operators, including CoinFlip, urged tougher regulations rather than an outright ban and warned that prohibition would cut off legitimate access for consumers who rely on roughly 350 licensed machines statewide.