Bitcoin Depot Chapter 11 Shuts 9,000 Crypto Kiosks

Bitcoin Depot filed for Chapter 11 in the Southern District of Texas on May 18, announcing it will wind down operations, sell assets and take its more than 9,000 crypto kiosks offline the same day.

A May 12 SEC disclosure showed first-quarter revenue declined 49.2% year over year and gross profit dropped 85.5%. The company reported a net loss of $9.5 million in Q1 2026, compared with net income of $12.2 million in Q1 2025. Management flagged substantial doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern.

Company filings attributed the financial deterioration to state and municipal restrictions, lower per-transaction limits, enhanced identity verification requirements, mounting litigation and more than $20 million in accrued legal judgments. Bitcoin Depot said it intends to pursue an orderly sale of assets, which could transfer physical machines to new owners.

Bitcoin ATMs allow users to convert cash to cryptocurrency without linking a bank account. Federal guidance places kiosk fees in a range of about 7% to 20%, higher than fees charged by centralized exchanges. The higher fees have been cited as a factor in the business model for cash-to-crypto kiosks.

Fraud and consumer losses have risen in recent reports. Federal Trade Commission data showed more than $65 million in reported Bitcoin ATM fraud in the first half of 2024, with a median reported loss of about $10,000. Federal Bureau of Investigation data for 2025 recorded 13,460 complaints tied to crypto kiosks and total reported losses of $389 million, a 58% increase from the prior period. Adults aged 60 and over accounted for roughly $257.5 million of the reported losses.

Several states have enacted or proposed strict controls. Indiana enacted a statewide prohibition on virtual currency kiosks, Tennessee made installing or operating such kiosks a Class A misdemeanor, and Minnesota approved a ban scheduled to take effect in 2026. Operators reported that tighter know-your-customer checks, lower transaction limits and refund obligations reduced transaction throughput and revenue per machine, and that litigation exposure added pressure to balance sheets.

At the end of 2025, Bitcoin Depot’s roughly 9,000 kiosks represented about 23% of the global installed base. Global counts rose to 39,158 machines in 2025. The U.S. ended the year with about 30,617 units, roughly 78% of the world total and up 1.65% from the start of the year. International growth in 2025 was concentrated in markets with fewer regulatory barriers: Australia added 601 machines (a 43% increase), Canada grew 8.4% and Europe grew 6.5%.

Industry participants describe two possible paths. One scenario involves buyers acquiring assets and relaunching selected machines in states without bans, operating kiosks as regulated, compliance-heavy cash-conversion terminals with lower margins. The alternative scenario envisions wider state prohibitions and compliance costs making high-fee kiosk operation unprofitable, leading operators to remove machines and shrink the U.S. installed base.

Market data show large flows into centralized infrastructure: Chainalysis estimated more than $1.2 trillion in Bitcoin-to-fiat inflows to centralized exchanges from July 2024 through June 2025. Bitcoin Depot’s filings and the company’s plan to sell assets leave open the possibility that some kiosks will be reactivated by new owners while others remain offline.