(FOX 9) – Lawmakers are on the verge of banning cryptocurrency kiosks in Minnesota, citing a surge in scams and growing concerns from law enforcement.

Minnesota cryptocurrency kiosk ban

What we know:

The Minnesota House has passed S.F. 3868, which would ban cryptocurrency kiosks statewide. The legislation previously passed the Minnesota Senate earlier this month and now heads to Gov. Walz for his signature to become law. 

If signed, Minnesota would become one of the first states to ban cryptocurrency kiosks in response to widespread fraud.

Dig deeper:

Cryptocurrency kiosks, which look like ATMs, allow people to use cash or debit cards to buy cryptocurrency. Once cash is converted, it becomes untraceable and nearly impossible for law enforcement to investigate.

Minnesota currently has 350 licensed cryptocurrency kiosks run by about eight companies, according to the Minnesota Department of Commerce.

The backstory:

A 2024 FBI report found that more than $100 million in cryptocurrency theft has been reported nationally.

In just the first six months of 2025, the FBI found that Americans lost $240 million in crypto kiosk scams.

Lawmakers say the move is in response to direct feedback from law enforcement and advocates working with scam victims.

Minnesota legislators passed a law two years ago requiring the kiosk owners to limit transaction amounts and refund victims in certain situations.

What they’re saying:

“We’re hearing directly from law enforcement that these crypto kiosks have become a prime tool for scammers to target some of our most vulnerable neighbors, especially seniors living on fixed incomes. When Minnesotans are losing their life savings in transactions that are nearly impossible to trace or recover, we have a responsibility to act,” Rep. Koegel, an author of the bill, said in a statement. “This legislation is about protecting people, closing a clear avenue for fraud, and ensuring no one is left to choose between financial security and falling victim to a scam. This is about working together to put Minnesotans first and making sure our laws keep pace with the tactics scammers are using to exploit our communities.”

The other side:

Throughout committee hearings, crypto kiosk owners have said the proposed law goes too far.

A statement to FOX 9 said in part: “We can’t speak for the entire industry, but CoinFlip holds itself to the highest standards of compliance, consumer protection, and transparency. We have been a registered Money Services Business (MSB) since 2015, support commonsense legislation, and believe all operators should meet consistent, clearly defined regulatory standards.”

Key Takeaways:

• Romania ONJN blocked over 300 illegal gambling sites and revoked 60 licenses in its 2025-2026 mandate year.
• €5M Conștient și Liber fund marks Romania’s first state funding for gambling addiction treatment
• Romanian court rejected Polymarket’s suspension request on April 1, keeping ONJN blacklist intact.

Romania’s Gambling Regulator Shares Block List

The Oficiul Național pentru Jocuri de Noroc (ONJN) published its activity report on April 24, summarising 12 months of enforcement and reform. The figures point to a reorientation toward black market enforcement. ONJN inspectors carried out approximately 11,000 control actions, issued fines totaling 10 million lei (about $2.2 million), revoked 60 operator licenses, and filed 70 criminal complaints. The regulator also issued more than 60 orders for the removal of illegal online content, with a reported 98% compliance rate, and added 300+ unlicensed websites to its national blocking list.

“This year has shown that change is possible. It does not come easily and is not done without resistance. There have been blockages, opposition and attempts to slow down essential projects, both from inside and outside,” Soare said in the report’s accompanying statement, confirming that ongoing investigations would continue.

A key structural change underpinning the enforcement push is the public register of gaming devices, launched by the ONJN in October 2025. The cloud-native system links each registered slot machine and video lottery terminal to a unique QR code, with mandatory geolocation tracking. The regulator has described it as the first of its kind among EU regulators. The legislation also expanded the agency’s authority to issue takedown orders for illegal gambling content under the EU Digital Services Act framework.

The ONJN inherited approximately 30,000 unprocessed self-exclusion requests when Soare took office; the report says the registry now covers approximately 54,000 individuals. A draft emergency ordinance currently with Romania’s Ministry of Finance would unify the self-exclusion procedure across land-based and online operators, introduce a mandatory cool-off period, with penalties of up to 100,000 lei for non-compliance.

The most concrete policy shift came on April 17, when ONJN opened applications for its Conștient și Liber (Aware and Free) program. The €5 million fund marks the first time the Romanian state has directly financed gambling addiction prevention and treatment. Applications close May 11, with implementation running August through December 2026.

The activity report follows Soare’s April 1 announcement of a Bucharest court ruling that rejected Polymarket’s request to suspend ONJN’s blacklist decision. “The decision to include Polymarket on the blacklist is not about technology, but about the law. Whether you bet in lei or in crypto, if you wager money on a future outcome under counterparty conditions, we are talking about gambling that must be licensed,” Soare said at the time. “ONJN will not permit blockchain to be turned into a screen for illegal betting.”

Romania separately joined the Balkan Gaming Federation in March, a regional industry body coordinating policy across Western Balkans markets without supplanting national regulators.

The Conștient și Liber program, device register rollout, and unified self-exclusion bill remain in early implementation phases. ONJN’s report acknowledged that several reforms still depend on legislative or budgetary follow-through.

A Newport Beach man was sentenced to more than five years in prison after federal prosecutors said he laundered at least $3.5 million as part of a multi-state criminal enterprise.

Evan Tangeman, 22, was sentenced in Washington, D.C., Friday, April 24, to five years and 10 months in prison after he pleaded guilty in December to taking part in a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) conspiracy in which participants stole more than $263 million in cryptocurrency and used the money to live lavish lifestyles, according to a U.S. Department of Justice statement.

Tangeman was the ninth person to plead guilty in connection with the scheme, which prosecutors said began around October 2023 and lasted through at least May 2025. The enterprise, prosecutors said, grew from friendships created through online gaming platforms and included co-conspirators from California, New York, Florida, Connecticut and abroad.

Members of the group included database hackers, organizers, target identifiers, callers and residential burglars who targeted hardware virtual currency wallets, which store cryptocurrency, prosecutors said.

Tangeman, who also went by “Tate,” “E,” and “Evan|Exchanger,” money laundered for the group, helped his co-conspirators take millions from victims and also received money and luxury items like exotic cars for his work, according to the DOJ.

When the first members of the criminal enterprise were arrested, Malone Lam of Los Angeles and Miami and Jeandiel Serrano of Los Angeles, Tangeman told his co-defendant Tucker Desmond of Huntington Beach to destroy digital devices that belonged to enterprise members, prosecutors said.

Using stolen virtual currency, members of the enterprise bought nightclub services sometimes totaling up to $500,000 a night, luxury handbags worth thousands of dollars that were given away at parties and luxury watches worth between $100,000 and $500,000. They also used the stolen money to purchase luxury clothing; rental homes in Los Angeles, the Hamptons and Miami; private jet rentals; private security guards and various exotic cars valued between $100,000 to $3.8 million, according to the DOJ.

Tangeman also converted the cryptocurrency to fiat cash, or money not tied to gold or other assets, with the help of real estate agents in Los Angeles, bought mansions for members of the scheme that were valued between $4 million and $9 million, prosecutors said.

He also arranged homes in Miami when the group of conspirators, who were unemployed men mostly under 20 years old, moved there in September 2024. The men bought the homes because they worried they would draw law enforcement’s attention if they rented large homes for tens of thousands of dollars each month when they had no income, according to the DOJ.

One of Tangeman’s co-conspirators arranged the purchase of a widebody Lamborghini Urus for Tangeman, and when law enforcement executed a search warrant at his home, they found and seized other luxury vehicles, including a 2022 Rolls Royce Ghost valued at more than $300,000 and a Porsche GT3 RS.