Why Albany wants to keep cryptocurrency ATMs away from the elderly
Under a new rule Albany leaders approved this week, cryptocurrency kiosks — think ATMS, but for bitcoin — won’t be allowed near schools or elderly care facilities.
As it stands, all existing machines for the digital currency in town, which typically sit alongside regular ATMs at convenience stores and gas stations, will have to be removed, according to Albany Code Compliance Officer Kris Schendel.
Cryptocurrency kiosks like this one, located at Stop N Save Market on Salem Avenue Southeast in Albany, is one of several in the area that may be affected by new city code.
The Albany City Council passed the ordinance at the Wednesday, July 9 meeting where Schendel spoke about the growing risk of scammers preying on the elderly to steal thousands through the machines.
“When you look down the rabbit hole of these crypto kiosks, there’s not a lot of oversight or authority,” he told councilors this week.
Growing concern
Albany isn’t the first to place restrictions on these kinds of ATMs.
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Officials in Spokane, Washington, passed an outright ban of crypto kiosks last month, while cities in Minnesota also recently weighed bans, according to reporting by Axios.
The kiosks, according to the same reporting, are a “favorite tool” among scam artists.
Schendel’s report to the council, attached to the meeting agenda, shows the Federal Trade Commission has reported a tenfold increase in losses from cryptocurrency kiosks since 2020, to $114 million in 2024.
Oregon’s Division of Financial Regulations, according to Schendel’s report, requires these kiosks to have licenses on a “case-by-case basis,” but no regulations on the kiosks specifically.
A quick Google Maps search for cryptocurrency kiosks in Albany shows 16 spread across the city (and 13 in Corvallis).
In an email to Mid-Valley Media, Schendel said over $189,000 had been scammed from Albany residents through these kiosks since January 2024.
There had been 18 successful scams and 24 attempted ones using cryptocurrency ATMs in that time, he said.
Schendel shared the most recent attempt at the Wednesday meeting.
An Albany resident who went on a “mischievous website,” Schendel said, was told by a scammer they were downloading child pornography and, under the fear of being arrested, were told to transfer bitcoin through a kiosk. It’s a typical scam, Schendel added.
Schendel said the target of the scam went to a truck stop in Albany, but luckily a manager noticed what was happening and “begged (the resident) to get off the phone,” saying it was a scam and ultimately no money was taken.
Scammers target the most vulnerable, Schendel said, and according to his report, the average age in Albany is 58, “meaning we would have a number of residents who would be the target demographic of these types of scams.”
The ordinance
Albany’s ordinance prohibits kiosks in residential zones, and from being within one-quarter mile of an elderly care facility, school building or a public transit system.
That last one “because we know there’s lots of elderly people that don’t drive, and that’s how they would get to these machines,” Schendel said.
Cryptocurrency kiosk at Stop N Save Market on Salem Avenue Southeast sits next to a regular ATM. Albany Code Compliance Officer Kris Schendel said he would begin visiting locations in Albany this month to issue notices for the removal of kiosks that violate city code.
All members of the council, besides Ramycia McGhee who was absent, approved the ordinance. Mayor Alex Johnson II only asked why the city wasn’t going for an outright ban.
According to City Attorney Sean Kidd, recent challenges to bans made employing a time, place and manner restriction a better bet.
“And we’re within our rights to do that,” Kidd said. “And I think we can survive a challenge on that pretty easily as opposed to an outright ban.”
Athena Bitcoin, which owns thousands of cryptocurrency ATMs across the country, asked Stillwater, Minnesota to repeal a ban city officials passed earlier this year, according to reporting from the Pioneer Press.
Reached by phone after the meeting, Schendel said he would start visiting stores and stations where kiosks are located on Monday, July 14, to issue notices to remove machines that violate the new city code.
Those locations would have until Aug. 8, or 30 days from council passage of the ordinance, to remove them, Schendel said.
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