Crypto ATM company to pay $300,000 after violating CA crypto law
Crypto ATM company to pay $300,000 after violating California crypto law
Crypto kiosk operator Coinme was fined $300,000 , including $51,700 in restitution for victims for violating California’s Digital Financial Law, it was announced Wednesday.
Crypto kiosk operator Coinme was fined $300,000, including $51,700 in restitution for victims, for violating the state’s Digital Financial Law, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation announced Wednesday.The Seattle-based company operates crypto kiosks, or crypto ATMs, across California in locations like grocery and convenience stores. At crypto ATMs, customers can exchange cash or other forms of payment for digital currency. In the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation’s (DFPI) investigation, they found that Coinme wasn’t complying with the Digital Financial Assets Law (DFAL) that sets a $1,000 limit on how much a kiosk can accept or dispense to a customer in one day. Coinme also failed to include required disclosures on customer receipts.The DFPI then entered into a consent order, or legally binding agreement, with Coinme to pay the penalty, including $51,700 to an elderly California resident.This is the first time action has been taken to enforce a DFAL, a 2023 law designed to mitigate risks of digital financial asset businesses like kiosks.Additionally, the DFAL was enacted to protect against Crypto scammers who often use these kiosks to defraud individuals by transferring digital assets to their own crypto wallets after they have been exchanged.“This enforcement action should send a strong message to kiosk operators that California means business when it requires digital asset companies to follow the rules,” DPFI Commissioner KC Mohseni said.To learn more about crypto scams, report a scam or fraud, or to find out how the DFPI protects consumers, visit their website.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
Crypto kiosk operator Coinme was fined $300,000, including $51,700 in restitution for victims, for violating the state’s Digital Financial Law, the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation announced Wednesday.
The Seattle-based company operates crypto kiosks, or crypto ATMs, across California in locations like grocery and convenience stores. At crypto ATMs, customers can exchange cash or other forms of payment for digital currency.
In the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation’s (DFPI) investigation, they found that Coinme wasn’t complying with the Digital Financial Assets Law (DFAL) that sets a $1,000 limit on how much a kiosk can accept or dispense to a customer in one day. Coinme also failed to include required disclosures on customer receipts.
The DFPI then entered into a consent order, or legally binding agreement, with Coinme to pay the penalty, including $51,700 to an elderly California resident.
This is the first time action has been taken to enforce a DFAL, a 2023 law designed to mitigate risks of digital financial asset businesses like kiosks.
Additionally, the DFAL was enacted to protect against Crypto scammers who often use these kiosks to defraud individuals by transferring digital assets to their own crypto wallets after they have been exchanged.
“This enforcement action should send a strong message to kiosk operators that California means business when it requires digital asset companies to follow the rules,” DPFI Commissioner KC Mohseni said.
To learn more about crypto scams, report a scam or fraud, or to find out how the DFPI protects consumers, visit their website.
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel