Florida requires crypto ATM operators to refund scams

Florida enacted HB 505, Chapter 2026-178, to create a regulatory framework for virtual currency kiosks. Most provisions take effect Jan. 1, 2027, and the section requiring kiosk businesses to register before operating begins March 1, 2027. Businesses operating on or before Jan. 1, 2027, must submit a registration application to the Office of Financial Regulation within 30 days after that date.

The law requires operators to display a conspicuous fraud warning before a transaction and to ask whether the customer has made same-day transactions at other kiosks. Operators must offer a physical or electronic receipt that includes business contact details, transaction amount, transaction hash, wallet addresses, fees, any exchange rate used, statements of liability and the refund policy.

HB 505 sets daily transaction caps of $2,000 for new customers and $10,000 for existing customers. Those caps apply across one or more transactions and across multiple kiosks operated by the same business.

The statute creates a conditional refund right for first-time kiosk transactions. If a customer alleges fraud on their first kiosk transaction, notifies both the kiosk operator and a law enforcement or government agency within 60 days, and provides proof such as a police report or a notarized affidavit, the operator must issue a full refund within 72 hours.

Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation will oversee the registration process. Businesses licensed as money transmitters do not need a separate kiosk registration but remain subject to the law’s requirements on warnings, caps, receipts and refunds. The law allows OFR to request records of compliance during registration renewal or if a registration lapses.

Legislators cited data on losses tied to crypto kiosks when drafting the law. In 2025 Florida recorded 1,213 complaints involving cryptocurrency kiosks with $32.8 million in adjusted losses. National data for the same period showed 13,460 complaints and nearly $389 million in adjusted losses. State reporting noted more than 3,100 crypto ATMs and over $33 million in reported crypto ATM-related losses over five years.

The statute requires kiosk operators to implement onboarding and tracking systems to distinguish new from existing customers and to monitor same-day transactions across machines. Businesses must maintain customer-service procedures for handling fraud reports and refund requests and preserve records showing when refunds were provided.

A federal legislative proposal introduced June 11 contains provisions similar to parts of HB 505, including daily transaction limits, warnings, receipts, anti-fraud measures and refunds. The federal draft states that states may adopt stronger consumer protections, including full refunds.