Crypto
Home›Crypto›Regulation›Hawaii bars cash deposits at crypto ATMs starting Oct.…
Hawaii bars cash deposits at crypto ATMs starting Oct. 1
The law, signed by Gov. Josh Green, targets kiosks that accept US currency for digital assets, while allowing machines to dispense cash for crypto or swap coins.
Hawaii will make it an unlawful practice to operate a crypto kiosk that accepts US currency from customers in exchange for a digital financial asset starting October 1, under Act 224 signed by Governor Josh Green on July 9, according to Decrypt.
The measure adds to Hawaii's consumer protection statute and treats each prohibited transaction as a separate offense, but it does not shut kiosks down entirely. The law still allows operators to run kiosks that accept a digital asset in exchange for another digital asset, or accept a digital asset in exchange for US currency, meaning users can still sell crypto for dollars at the machines.
Lawmakers said the restriction is meant to address scam usage, with committee materials describing kiosks as increasingly used in scams targeting older adults. The scheme often involves victims being convinced to transfer cryptocurrency to a wallet address controlled by scammers.
Decrypt also cites related enforcement and complaint data, including investigations by the attorneys general of Washington, DC and Iowa finding more than 93% of transactions at kiosks they examined were scams. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center logged 92 kiosk-related complaints from Hawaii residents in 2025, with $3.85 million in adjusted losses, roughly four times the prior year's figure, and 826 crypto complaints statewide worth about $80 million.