OHIO — The Ohio Department of Commerce Division of Financial Institutions issued a consumer alert on Monday for Ohioans who have used cryptocurrency ATM kiosks operated by Bitcoin Depot Inc. 

The alert follows Bitcoin filing for bankruptcy last month in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas. Since the filing, it has shut down its ATM network, meaning consumers may be eligible for outstanding funds.

Bitcoin previously operated in 33 states, including Ohio, holding money transmission license number OHMT 263 with the division.

A Bitcoin ATM is a physical kiosk allowing people to buy or sometimes sell cryptocurrency, usually using cash or a debit card, but unlike a traditional ATM, it does not connect to a bank account. Instead, it transfers cryptocurrency to a digital wallet or an address the user provides.

“In the past year, Bitcoin Depot processed 10,637 individual transactions in Ohio across at least 50 machines,” the division said in a news release. “Any Ohioan who believes they may have been impacted by a scam involving these machines is encouraged to file a claim.”

There are 32 consumers who are owed a total of $90,907 in refunds, ranging from $18 to $43,000. These individuals will be contacted directly, but the division is calling attention to the situation to ensure any other Ohioan who used the service is aware of the potential refund.

Those who believe they are owed money, or who have an outstanding claim with Bitcoin Depot, can file a claim through the bankruptcy case. They can also call the company’s restructuring hotline at 844-339-4117 (Toll-Free U.S./Canada) or +1-332-232-7827 (International), or email BitcoinDepotInfo@ra.kroll.com.

Before filing a claim, consumers are encouraged to gather all recepts, transaction records and supporting documents.

For additional information, contact the Division’s Office of Consumer Affairs via email at web.dfi@com.ohio.gov or call 614-728-8400.

A $2.2 Million Vote of Confidence

Arthur Hayes, the co-founder and former chief executive of derivatives exchange BitMEX, has placed a fresh bet on the Hyperliquid ecosystem, buying roughly $2.2 million of synapse (SYN) and publicly endorsing the project behind an onchain options exchange.

The purchase, made on June 29 through over-the-counter trading firm Flowdesk, totaled about 6.16 million SYN tokens. Hayes, not one to keep quiet, subsequently took to X and commented:

Hypercall is an onchain options trading protocol built on Hyperliquid’s HyperEVM, the smart-contract layer of the fast-growing Hyperliquid network. The platform lets users trade options, with positions tradeable around the clock and risk capped at the premium a trader pays. Moreover, it has been developed by the team behind Synapse, whose SYN token is the asset Hayes bought.

A Run-Up in SYN

The endorsement landed on a token that was already on a tear as SYN surged more than tenfold in June, and Hayes’s purchase and public backing added fuel, with Synapse’s market capitalization climbing toward the $55 million to $60 million range and daily trading volume running above $95 million in the wake of his comments.

Hayes commands an unusually large following among crypto traders, both for his market essays and his willingness to put capital behind his theses. Not only that, he has become one of the most closely watched voices in the Hyperliquid orbit, repeatedly championing the network’s HYPE token, at one point setting a $150 price target, though his wallet activity has not always matched his rhetoric.

Bitcoin.com News reported recently that a wallet linked to Hayes sold HYPE near $54 before buying back in at a higher price, a sequence that drew attention to the gap between his public calls and his trades.

Targeting Deribit’s Turf

Deribit has been the dominant venue for crypto options, a corner of the market long underserved by decentralized platforms because options are harder to build onchain than simple spot or perpetual-futures trading. By putting forth Hypercall as a credible challenger, Hayes is betting that Hyperliquid’s infrastructure can finally support a decentralized options market at scale and that SYN is the way to gain exposure to that bet.

That said, an endorsement and a price spike are not the same as trading volume, open interest, and users, the metrics that ultimately decide whether an options DEX can pressure an incumbent like Deribit. For the time being, Hayes and his $2.2 million bet have put a considerable megaphone behind the idea and the next thing to look out for is whether Hypercall can convert the hype and capital into durable trading activity before the attention inadvertently fades.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) expressed concerns on Sunday over the potential misuse of cryptocurrencies by America’s adversaries.

Warren Says Crypto Legislation Will Make The Problem Worse

Warren cited a Wall Street Journal report on X detailing how Iran-affiliated entities moved billions in transactions through CoinEx, a cryptocurrency exchange that withdrew from the U.S. after a 2023 lawsuit.

“More evidence that our adversaries exploit crypto to move billions,” the senior lawmaker said.

Warren argued that the cryptocurrency legislation, i.e., the Clarity Act, would make the problem “worse” by creating new loopholes and urged Congress to strengthen the bill before passage.