Regulators Slam Bitcoin ATM Giant Coinme: $8M Repayment Ordered, Operations Halted
Another crypto heavyweight stumbles under regulatory scrutiny—this time, it's the ATM network you might have used.
The Enforcement Hammer Drops
Authorities just handed down a dual mandate: return millions to customers and shut down key services. The order targets operational practices, not the underlying tech, but the fallout rattles confidence in crypto's bridge to physical cash.
Compliance Costs Real Money
Forget theoretical debates about decentralization. When regulators speak, the bill arrives in hard currency—eight million dollars' worth. It's a stark reminder that building infrastructure means playing by traditional finance rules, too.
The Ripple Effect
This move doesn't exist in a vacuum. It signals tighter oversight for any service blending digital assets with street-corner accessibility. Other operators are now recalculating their own risk exposure.
So the industry marches on—one step forward in adoption, two steps back in a regulatory audit. Sometimes, the most bullish thing you can do is clean house before the authorities do it for you. After all, what's a few million between friends when you're disrupting global finance?
Is Bitcoin ATM Operator Coinme About to Lose Its License?
The order also charges that from 2020 to 2025, Coinme failed to maintain its legally required tangible net worth, submitted inaccurate reports, and did not properly disclose redemption timeframes to users.
Coinme now faces a potential revocation of its state money transmitter license, a $300,000 fine, and a possible 10-year industry ban for the company and its CEO, Neil Bergquist. The company has 20 days to request a hearing before the order becomes permanent.
In a statement, Coinme Chief Compliance Officer Ben Enea said the company is cooperating with regulators.
The Institutional Take
This action against Coinme is a significant escalation in the regulatory campaign targeting the operational grey areas of crypto-to-fiat gateways. For institutional desks, the key risk is not the solvency of one ATM operator but the precedent it sets for the treatment of customer funds held in limbo.
Regulators are clearly signaling an end to the tolerance of treating unclaimed crypto assets as breakage or miscellaneous income. This move pressures all consumer-facing crypto services to tighten their accounting, escheatment, and disclosure policies, introducing new compliance overhead that could compress margins for the entire sector.
