Nebraska governor signs bill to regulate crypto ATMs, citing growing fraud

The governor of Nebraska, Jim Pillen, has signed legislation to protect against cryptocurrency fraud as crypto ATM crime skyrockets in the United States.

“Cryptocurrency is an important, emerging industry, and we’ve been working hard to build Nebraska into a cryptocurrency leader,” said Governor Pillen on March 12 following the signing of the bill. 

“An important part of these efforts is to make sure that we have guardrails to prevent criminals from taking advantage of Nebraskans,” he added.  

The bipartisan legislation establishes the “Controllable Electronic Record Fraud Prevention Act,” which is designed to help combat fraud and protect users of crypto kiosks and ATMs.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, victims have lost over $65 million to crypto ATM fraud in the first half of 2024. “Fraud losses at BTMs (Bitcoin ATMs) are skyrocketing, increasing nearly tenfold from 2020 to 2023,” the commission reported in September. 

The bill, LB 609, was introduced on Jan. 22 by Senator Eliot Bostar. It stipulates that crypto ATM and kiosk operators must be licensed under Nebraska’s Money Transmitters Act and registered and approved by the Department of Banking and Finance. Operators must provide quarterly reports on kiosk locations, names and transaction data.

It also implements transaction limits of $2,000 per day for new users and $5,000 per day for existing customers, and fees cannot exceed 18% of the transaction value. 

New customers who report fraud within 90 days can receive a full refund, including fees, while existing customers can be refunded for the fees associated with fraudulent transactions.

Kiosk operators must also display fraud warnings and appoint a compliance officer to enforce fraud prevention measures, it states. 

The US crypto ATM network shrunk by more than 1,200 machines earlier this month after Illinois Senator Dick Durbin introduced similar legislation. 

Related: Nebraska bill seeks fair play for crypto mining, ownership 

“Nebraska is open for business in the cryptocurrency space,” commented state Department of Banking director Kelly Lammers, who added, “those that target our citizens … using crypto ATMs as part of their transfer method, we will soon have a team that will be watching even more closely.”

While being supportive of crypto, Nebraska has yet to join the 21 US states that have proposed legislation to establish strategic crypto reserves, according to the Bitcoin Reserve Monitor. 

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