North Dakota

North Dakota bill aiming to regulate crypto kiosks, prevent fraud gets mixed reactions

Published

12 months ago

January 23, 2025

North Dakota bill aiming to regulate crypto kiosks, prevent fraud gets mixed reactions

BISMARCK — A bill in the North Dakota House of Representatives aims to regulate cryptocurrency kiosks by limiting deposits, capping fees and requiring fraud detection measures in response to rising concerns over financial scams.

House Bill 1447

would regulate virtual currency kiosks, also known as cryptocurrency kiosks or crypto ATMs. The proposal would license cryptocurrency kiosk operators in North Dakota, limit daily deposits to $1,000, cap fees at 3%, require blockchain analytics to detect suspicious activity and mandate refunds for new customers within 30 days.

Simply put, crypto kiosks allow people to insert cash, turn it into cryptocurrency and deposit it into an electronic wallet. It also allows anyone with an electronic wallet to turn cryptocurrency into cash and withdraw it.

More than $6 million was stolen through cryptocurrency fraud in North Dakota in 2023, and the FBI received over 5,500 complaints involving crypto kiosks nationally in 2023, according to AARP.

Rep. Steve Swiontek, R-Fargo, said scammers are directing people to withdraw money from their bank accounts and put it into the crypto ATMs, where it is deposited directly into the electronic wallets of the scammers.

Gate City Bank board chair Steve Swiontek

Contributed / Stacy Kennedy, Gate City Bank

Swiontek chairs the board of Gate City Bank and has worked in banking for over 40 years.

He told a story about a person in North Dakota who received a message from a fraudster posing as a federal employee saying they would purchase child sexual abuse material using the person’s identity, open offshore accounts in the person’s name and that their family would be in danger if they did not comply with the fraudster’s directives. The person took out nearly $25,000 and gave it to the fraudster using a crypto kiosk. The person almost gave the fraudster another $25,000, but after a conversation with a neighbor who worked in law enforcement, they found out they had been scammed.

A fraud investigator for First Western Bank, Jacob Rued, said another way fraudsters often work is to refer to the crypto ATMs as “federal safety lockers” and tell people they are scamming that their money is not safe in their bank and needs to be deposited in the “federal safety locker.”

“If you ever hear that term, or someone you love says that term to you, you and they are being scammed,” Rued said. “That term does not exist.”

Josh Askvig, state director of AARP North Dakota, said that elderly North Dakotans are especially vulnerable to these crypto scams.

Rep. Ben Koppelman, R-West Fargo, questioned the necessity of caps on daily transactions and fees because he believes it would unnecessarily burden a growing industry. He said there are legitimate reasons for people to use the kiosks because if there weren’t, there wouldn’t be successful, publicly traded companies based on them.

“I just don’t believe that there would be a publicly traded company that’s investing in something that’s 99% scams,” Koppelman said. “And that somehow that’s got across (past) all the regulators that deal with the publicly traded companies.”

Koppelman suggested the implementation of a cap on a user’s first five transactions to protect first-time users from scams without impacting those who regularly use the kiosks.

Rued said without the caps on daily transactions, the bill would be useless.

He shared a story about a person who experienced fraud in Minnesota when he took $50,000 out of his bank account, intending to put it all into the kiosk and give it to the scammer’s electronic wallet, but was stopped at depositing $2,000 into the kiosk by Minnesota’s regulations. After he was stopped, he realized he was being scammed and did not give the remaining $48,000 to the fraudster.

“Without that (cap), he would have lost all $50,000,” Rued said. “Now, could he report that to us the next day? Sure. But in all reality, the money is gone. If you know anything about the blockchain and crypto — I mean the whole essence and principle of it is, once it’s out there, the government can’t go get it. No one can exercise control over it.”

Rue noted he was in favor of the cap on fees, as well. The companies that operate the kiosks are “profiting off the losses of these victims,” he said.

Representatives of two companies that operate cryptocurrency kiosks said they were in support of licensing operators of kiosks but not caps on fees and daily transactions.

Director of Government Relations at Bitcoin Depot Ethan McClelland said the cap on transaction fees and daily transaction amounts would make operating in North Dakota unsustainable and drive responsible operators of crypto kiosks out of the state.

The transaction limits “are encouraging scammers to spread transactions around, and it’s hindering our efforts and law enforcement’s efforts to combat fraud,” McClelland said.

Rued disagreed.

“To be perfectly frank with you,” Rued said, “with no disrespect to them, it’s laughable to me that the transaction limit is going to increase the fraud or it’s going to make it more difficult to investigate. My opinion would be the exact opposite — it’s going to decrease fraud.”

Koppelman said the bill will be worked on in a committee before a recommendation is voted on.

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North Dakota

North Dakota HS Boys | Girls Basketball Scoreboard from Jan 10, 2026

Published

12 hours ago

January 11, 2026

Press Room

High School Basketball logo. Courtesy Midwest Communications.

North Dakota High School Boys | Girls Basketball Scoreboard from Jan 10, 2026

BOYS PREP BASKETBALL=

Alexander-Trinity Christian 81, Divide County 58

Beulah 55, Des Lacs-Burlington 26

Harvey-Wells County 61, Nedrose 51

Killdeer 54, Dunseith 52

Linton 75, Sargent County 32

Milbank, S.D. 64, Hillsboro-Central Valley 61

New Salem-Almont 71, Mandaree 32

Our Redeemer’s 89, Kenmare 32

Parshall 71, Trenton 70

Richey-Lambert, Mont. 57, Beach 55

Rothsay, Minn. 71, Richland 38

Shiloh 70, Oak Grove 59

Watford City 77, South Prairie/Max 64

Westby-Grenora 49, Savage, Mont. 40

White Shield 72, Strasburg 55

Dickinson Trinity Shootout=

Central McLean 70, Bowman County 54

Dickinson Trinity 63, Stanley 22

Wilton-Wing 70, South Heart 51

Ramsey County Tournament=

Championship=

North Star 65, Lakota/Adams-Edmore/Dakota Prairie 57

7th Place=

Warwick 72, Benson County 61

5th Place=

Carrington 53, Griggs-Midkota 45

3rd Place=

Devils Lake 73, Larimore 63

Stutsman County Shootout=

Drake-Anamoose 54, South Border 49

Glen Ullin 47, EKM 44

MPB 63, Washburn 59

Midway-Minto 61, Ellendale 53

Napoleon/G-S 53, Kindred 44

Oakes 69, Kidder County 39

GIRLS PREP BASKETBALL=

Ashby, Minn. 65, Tri-State 49

Benson County 47, Hatton-Northwood 38

Dunseith 46, Killdeer 39

Ellendale 54, South Border 36

Flasher 42, New England 16

Garrison 54, Grant County/Mott-Regent 51

Kenmare 55, Our Redeemer’s 43

Kindred 70, Bottineau 21

Lambert, Mont. 52, Beach 50

Maple River 53, LaMoure 52

Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood 57, TGU 54

New Salem-Almont 67, Mandaree 44

North Prairie 67, Westhope 49

Park River 42, Griggs-Midkota 37

Richey-Lambert, Mont. 52, Beach 50

Rothsay, Minn. 65, Richland 32

Sargent County 55, Linton 48

Savage, Mont. 40, Westby-Grenora 33

Shiloh 56, Oak Grove 47

Sisseton, S.D. 66, Oakes 17

Strasburg 39, White Shield 30

Surrey 67, Larimore 38

Trenton 58, Parshall 40

Dickinson Trinity Shootout=

Central McLean 55, Bowman County 41

South Heart 45, Stanley 41

Sanford Pentagon Classic=

West Fargo Horace 70, Tea, S.D. 41

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North Dakota

Bankruptcies for North Dakota and western Minnesota published Jan. 10, 2026

Published

1 day ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court

North Dakota

Kaitlyn Grace Lucier, Fargo, Chapter 7

Samuel Todd Hicks, formerly known as Thomas Samuel Hicks, Fargo, Chapter 7

Teresa and Dominik Renwick, Fargo, Chapter 13

Susan Renee Fuller, formerly known as Susan R. Schaffer, doing business as Susie’s Sparkling Cleaning Service, Fargo, Chapter 7

Shannon Lynn Taylor, Fargo, Chapter 7

Jesse Patrick and Jaime Elizabeth Brown, Williston, Chapter 7

Kerri Lee Weishaar, Minot, Chapter 7

Terry Marie Moritz, Valley City, Chapter 7

Joshua Allen Sewill, Hatton, Chapter 7

Bryan Eugene Flecker, Minot, Chapter 7

Anna Marie Rahm, formerly known as Anna Marie Tanner, and Joshua Edward Rahm, Bismarck, Chapter 13

Sherri Rae Fisher, Baldwin, Chapter 13

Heather Lynn McElroy, formerly known as Heather Anderson, Grand Forks, Chapter 7

Kaitlyn Autrey, Grand Forks, Chapter 7

Michelle Lynn Miller, Fargo, Chapter 13

Kimberly Georgeann Callahan, Fargo, Chapter 13

Erin Elaine and Jose Luiz Murphy, Bismarck, Chapter 7

Shelly and Kieth Quimby, St. Thomas, Chapter 7

Minnesota

Bankruptcy filings from the following counties: Becker, Clay, Douglas, Grant, Hubbard, Mahnomen, Norman, Otter Tail, Polk, Traverse, Wadena and Wilkin.

David Howard Gilpin, Osakis, Chapter 7

Timothy Virgil Hoag, Moorhead, Chapter 7

Jason Darryl Dykhoff, Ottertail, Chapter 7

Zachary Nicholas Hodgson and Jolynn Beth Warnes, formerly known as Jolynn Beth Hodgson, Kensington, Chapter 7

Riley Matthew Hinman, Alexandria, Chapter 7

Layne Christopher Condiff, Park Rapids, Chapter 13

Thomas Beecher Hoyer, Menahga, Chapter 13

Christine Karen Jakubek, also known as Cristine Anderson, Chapter 7

Chapter 7 is a petition to liquidate assets and discharge debts.

Chapter 11 is a petition for protection from creditors and to reorganize.

Chapter 12 is a petition for family farmers to reorganize.

Chapter 13 is a petition for wage earners to readjust debts.

Our newsroom occasionally reports stories under a byline of “staff.” Often, the “staff” byline is used when rewriting basic news briefs that originate from official sources, such as a city press release about a road closure, and which require little or no reporting. At times, this byline is used when a news story includes numerous authors or when the story is formed by aggregating previously reported news from various sources. If outside sources are used, it is noted within the story.

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North Dakota

Hoeven, Armstrong, Traynor speak on OBBB Rural Health Transformation Fund updates in ND

Published

2 days ago

January 10, 2026

Press Room

Hoeven, Armstrong, Traynor speak on OBBB Rural Health Transformation Fund updates in ND

BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – On Friday, North Dakota U.S. Senator John Hoeven, Governor Kelly Armstrong and Health and Human Services Commissioner Pat Traynor explained how the state plans to use millions of dollars from the Big Beautiful Bill’s Rural Health Transformation Fund to transform healthcare across the state.

They spoke extensively about the special session to allocate the funds, and confirmed that it is still tentatively set for Jan. 21.

The Big Beautiful Bill allocated $25 billion for rural healthcare nationwide. North Dakota received $500 million for five years and $200 million for the first year. There is still another $25 billion left to be spent, and North Dakota is hoping to receive an extra $500 million.

“I truly believe that with the plan we’re putting in place and the things we built that line up with that, we’ll get a billion dollars over five years,” said Hoeven.

Federal rules require the state to lock in contracts for the money by October first— a deadline officials say is driving the need for a special session.

In the first year, North Dakota will focus on retention grants to keep existing staff, technical assistance and consultants for rural hospitals, as well as telehealth equipment and home patient monitoring.

A KFYR+ exclusive

Governor Armstrong says the special session will include policy bills tied to how much federal rural health funding the state can earn.

“We’re going to have a physical fitness test for physical education courses, nutrition education, continuing education requirement for physicians, physician assistant licensure compact—which North Dakota has been doing, dealing with that since the heart of the oil boom and moving forward—and then an expanded scope of practice for pharmacists,” said Armstrong.

Hundreds of millions of dollars could reshape healthcare in rural North Dakota, and state leaders say the next few weeks are key to receiving and spending that money wisely.

The governor says he only wants to focus on bills related to the Rural Health Transformation Program during the special session and doesn’t intend to deal with other state issues during that time.

Politicians outline plans for ND Rural Health Transformation Program

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