News · Ann Arbor
Ann Arbor moves to license Bitcoin ATMs and cap deposits at $1,000 a day after police tallied 64 fraud cases
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Ann Arbor is moving to license the cryptocurrency kiosks known as Bitcoin ATMs and to limit how much cash anyone can feed into them, after city police counted dozens of local scams that ran through the machines.
City Council voted 9-0 on Monday, Oct. 19, to approve the ordinance on first reading, MLive reported. It needs a second council vote before it becomes law; the city’s legislative record lists the measure, ORD-26-30, as headed to second reading.
Why the city acted. From January 2024 through Oct. 6, Ann Arbor police documented 83 incidents involving Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, including at least 77 reported crimes, Council Member Jen Eyer said at the meeting. Sixty-four involved fraud and eight involved extortion, and many victims were older adults, she said, according to MLive. Police found many of the kiosks tied to those cases at gas stations in or near the city.
The ordinance itself cites FBI figures: 13,460 complaints and $389 million in losses tied to the kiosks nationwide in 2025, with more than half of complaints coming from people over 50, who lost more than $302 million.
What the rules would require. Under the draft ordinance, read by The Mitten Daily, every kiosk operator would need a city license, applied for through the City Clerk and listing where each machine sits. Operators would have to:
• Show a full-screen warning before every transaction that begins, “WARNING: this technology can be used to defraud you,” and tells users to stop if someone called claiming to be their bank, the police or a software company, or directed them to pay for bail, warrants, utility bills or Social Security at the kiosk.
• Post a printed warning sign near each machine.
• Check a government photo ID before any transaction.
• Cap transactions at $500 in any 24 hours for new users, defined as anyone in their first 30 days with that operator, and $1,000 a day and $10,000 every 30 days for everyone else.
• Offer live, toll-free customer service during operating hours, hand over receipts showing the fee charged and the refund policy, and use blockchain analytics to flag wallets linked to fraud.
The police chief could inspect kiosks during business hours. Each violation would be a civil infraction with a $500 fine, and each day a violation continues counts separately. Kiosks already operating would have until April 30, 2028, to get a license or shut down.
What this means for you. The ordinance’s own findings note that kiosk transactions are irreversible, hard to trace and not covered by government insurance. Bank of Ann Arbor warns customers that banks, government agencies and police will never ask for payment in cryptocurrency, and that any request to settle a fine or an “urgent issue” through a Bitcoin ATM is a scam. If a caller tells you to go to a kiosk, hang up and call the agency or relative yourself at a number you already know.
Sources:
City of Ann Arbor, draft ordinance adding Chapter 83 (Virtual Currency Kiosks), ORD-26-30 (findings, license, warnings, ID, limits, penalties, April 30, 2028 deadline), https://a2gov.legistar1.com/a2gov/attachments/8cfe7580-0415-49b1-ba77-0d8290233858.pdf
City of Ann Arbor Legistar, City Council meeting of Oct. 19, 2026 (first reading), https://a2gov.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?LEGID=14161&GID=55&G=505481FE-B2ED-4B34-9A92-FDB26536D1E1
MLive, “‘The numbers are actually alarming.’ Ann Arbor aims to regulate Bitcoin ATMs to stop scams,” Oct. 21, 2026 (9-0 vote, police figures, Eyer quotes), https://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/2026/10/the-numbers-are-actually-alarming-ann-arbor-aims-to-regulate-bitcoin-atms-to-stop-scams.html
Bank of Ann Arbor, “Avoid Crypto ATM and Cash-Courier Scams,” https://www.bankofannarbor.com/avoid-crypto-atm-and-cash-courier-scams/
Photo: Wrosenb2, “CoinFlip® Cryptocurrency ATM in Peoria, Illinois.jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CoinFlip%C2%AE_Cryptocurrency_ATM_in_Peoria,_Illinois.jpg
More from Ann Arbor
Michigan Travel · October 20, 2026
U-M’s free Spaceout festival surrounds listeners with 360-degree sound Oct. 22–23 at Ann Arbor’s Moore Building on North Campus
The third Spaceout International Ambisonics Festival offers three free concerts of immersive audio, plus live, interactive and virtual reality works. No tickets are needed, but seating is first come, first served.
Michigan Travel · October 20, 2026
Things to do in Ann Arbor Oct. 23–25: The Lord of the Rings Symphony at Hill Auditorium, “Jekyll & Hyde” and Michigan vs. Indiana at noon
The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra plays Howard Shore’s film music Friday, Ann Arbor Civic Theatre’s “Jekyll & Hyde” runs through Sunday, and Michigan hosts No. 6 Indiana at noon Saturday.
Election 2026 · October 19, 2026
Saline-area voters weigh a 2.98-mill fire authority tax that would raise $6.5 million a year, which the department calls about a mill above today’s funding
The Saline Area Fire Authority wants its own 10-year property tax in place of yearly payments from Saline and Lodi, Saline and York townships. A house with a $250,000 taxable value would pay up to $745 a year.
News · October 19, 2026
Ann Arbor opens Fire Station 4 on the southeast side, the city’s first new fire station since 1981
Engine 1-4 has moved into the rebuilt station at Huron Parkway and Platt Road, which replaces a 1966 building on the same site. A grand opening is set for Oct. 30.