(The Center Square) – The Spokane Valley City Council will consider banning cryptocurrency kiosks on Tuesday night as fraudsters scam victims out of their hard-earned savings with made-up emergencies.
The proposal follows the city of Spokane’s ban on virtual currency kiosks last June. It was the first city in Washington state to do so, following in the footsteps of Stillwater, Minn. State lawmakers considered proposals to regulate the kiosks this year, but the bills stalled before the legislative session adjourned.
If approved, the Valley’s proposal would prohibit any person or entity from operating a virtual currency kiosk within the city limits. The FBI received 13,460 complaints regarding these kiosk scams in 2025, totaling about $389 million in losses, with 66% of those losses reported by people over 60 years old.
“Virtual currency is often used as a payment method for scams because it is decentralized, difficult to track, and often not recoverable,” according to the ordinance. “Virtual Currency Kiosks offer a simple and convenient way to defraud victims by directing them to send payments under false pretenses.”
Data included in Tuesday’s agenda suggests there are at least 20 of these kiosks in the city, operated by Bitcoin Depot, Coinstar, Coinflip and Cash2Bitcoin. Local law enforcement has investigated at least 10 cases in the Valley in which residents lost significant amounts of money, resulting in one suicide.
Scammers often trick victims into depositing cash into these kiosks by sending fake messages about unpaid debt, fraudulent activity in their bank accounts, or claiming that the victims could face arrest.
Before the Spokane City Council passed its ban last year, at least three people had committed suicide. If approved, violating the Valley’s ordinance would result in a class 1 civil infraction and a $250 fine.
Local businesses would have 30 days to remove the kiosks, or the Valley could revoke their licenses.
While banning the kiosks could mitigate scams in the Valley, these machines are scattered across the county, state and into Idaho as well. If a scammer convinced their victim that they could face arrest if they didn’t pay a made-up fine, the victim would still be only a short drive away from another kiosk.
“An adult female victim reported that an unknown male, claiming to be employed with the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, called and told her that she had two warrants for her arrest,” according to a November scam alert. “In addition to losing $7,000, the victim may now be at risk of identity theft.”
Spokane County and Spokane Valley have issued several warnings about cryptocurrency scams over the last few years. The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions also issued a warning in 2024, as complaints regarding these kiosks increased 99% from 2023, according to FBI crime data.
The proposal would not interfere with the transfer of cryptocurrency outside of kiosks in the Valley.
“Lawmakers had a clear opportunity to put basic guardrails in place – such as transaction limits, fee caps, and prominent scam warnings,” Cathy MacCaul, AARP Washington advocacy director, wrote in a press release on February 26 after Senate Bill 5280 stalled in the state Legislature. “Instead, they allowed industry lobbyists to portray consumer protections as a threat to their business model.”
