New law bans cryptocurrency kiosks in Albuquerque

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An ordinance banning cryptocurrency kiosks in the city of Albuquerque was signed into law Friday as authorities warn of a high level of fraud associated with the machines.

Officials say there are at least 100 of the kiosks in convenience stores and smoke shops around Albuquerque. The city is still ironing out a plan to remove the kiosks.

The Virtual Currency Ordinance, sponsored by Councilors Stephanie Telles and Tammy Fiebelkorn, was passed by City Council on Sept. 9 on a 6-3 vote, with Councilors Brook Bassan, Renée Grout and Dan Lewis voting against the measure.

On Friday, Mayor Tim Keller signed the bill into law.

AARP said Friday that in the past year, New Mexicans, particularly seniors, had been defrauded of millions through the kiosks. The ban comes as cities across the country do away with the kiosks, also called ATMs, and raise awareness of the fraud tied to them.

“This is not an anti-crypto bill in any way,” Telles said during the meeting, adding that the bill only targets the kiosks, which are not the sole way to buy crypto. “The fees are so incredibly high that anybody who is legitimately dealing in cryptocurrency would never use (the kiosks).”

In an interview after the bill signing, Telles said the kiosks are predatory — charging 25% to 30% fees — even for those interested in crypto investment, which was around 10% of the kiosk users.

“So they serve no good purpose,” she said.

Telles said she had spoken with city officials about removal and was told they have already done outreach to kiosk owners to let them know they have 45 days to take them out.

Planning Department spokesperson Tim Walsh said the ordinance goes into effect in mid-October and “all virtual currency ATMs existing within the City of Albuquerque must be removed no later than 45 days after the effective date.”

“Failure to comply may result in daily fines and business license revocation,” he said.

Othiamba Umi, associate state director for advocacy for AARP, said some state residents were losing life savings to these scams. He said scammers target the elderly specifically because of “social isolation and things of that nature.”

“That’s why prevention and education is very key,” Umi said. “Once you recognize them, you’re a little more sensitive to seeing them. ‘Hey, I recognize this as a scam and I probably should avoid this.’ They’re very sophisticated.”

Scammed

Beth Velasquez, AARP communications director, said during the council meeting that scammers tell the targeted person there is an overdue bill, a warrant for their arrest or some other panic-inducing assertion that requires payment.

She said the scammer will then direct the person to a store where there is a kiosk they can deposit money into.

Velasquez said a close relative lost $9,000 to a scammer using the kiosks. Telles said she had a friend who lost $10,000 in a similar manner. Lewis, during the meeting, said a friend’s mother was “scammed in the same way” and lost $6,000.

Bassan said she agreed the scams were an issue but questioned if by banning the kiosks they were affecting people who use them and are not “doing anything wrong.” Bassan wondered where most of the kiosks were located, and Councilor Nichole Rogers said “a third of them” were located in District 6, the district she represents.

Raul Bujanda, executive director of public safety, said they had received reports of 100 scamming incidents — most of them in Albuquerque — that totaled $2.2 million in losses. He said the actual amounts are likely higher, estimating only about 40% of people report the crimes due to feeling ashamed, among other reasons.

In April, the FBI said cryptocurrency scams had defrauded Americans of $11 billion in 2025. The report said of the more than 181,000 crypto fraud complaints nationwide, 914 happened in New Mexico and totaled $45 million in losses.

Bujanda, the former FBI special agent in charge of the Albuquerque field office, said the scammers are often south of the border or overseas, making it difficult to recoup funds and hold them accountable.

“There’s nothing wrong with the machine itself, the machine is legitimate, it’s the means that (scammers) are using them that are illegitimate, using them to exploit our elderly, our most vulnerable,” he told councilors. “That is the true issue with these machines.”

He told a story about an elderly woman using one such kiosk in a Santa Fe store who “was there for such a long period of time, putting money into this machine” that employees gave her a chair.

An employee of Dank Smoke Shop and Grocery, at San Pedro and Kathryn, told the Journal they have a kiosk in their store. The man, who identified himself as Deandre but refused to give a last name, said five to 10 people use the kiosk a day.

The man, who works the midday shift at the 24/7 shop, said he has never seen an elderly person come in and that mainly young people use the kiosk. He did not know the company that owns the machine or how the shop benefits from having it on the premises but said there was some monetary benefit.