Wisconsin Democrats have announced the introduction of a companion Senate Bill 386 after filing Assembly Bill 384 to regulate crypto kiosks.
The proposals provided by Wisconsin Democrats demand crypto kiosks and ATMs to hold money transmission licences, enforcing additional regulatory requirements on current laws under the Department of Financial Institutions’ Division of Banking. The plans also require retail crypto spots to have KYC verifications in place, as well as a daily transaction cap of USD 1,000 per customer. Fees are set to be capped at 3% or 5% of the amount transacted.
Regulating crypto ATMs
Wisconsin Democrats’ bills also require crypto kiosks and ATMs to display Fraud Alert warnings about scammers posing as loved ones, charities, or government organisations or representatives. The lawmakers judge that crypto terminals around most of the US’s grocery stores and gas stations demand urgent control. Recent data shows that only Wisconsin has approximately 582 Bitcoin ATMs.
Furthermore, the Democratic lawmakers mentioned that this move comes as a response to a nationwide increase in fraud that costs victims substantial money resources. The current proposals require refunds for scams reported within 30 days to be made available to the individuals affected by such criminal activities and enable law enforcement agencies to track money, similar to traditional banking.
According to officials, even if individuals might be highly interested in emerging tech, these solutions could pose a substantial risk for scams or fraud. They underlined that many of these crypto kiosks resembling ATMs evade regulatory requirements, with crypto kiosks' guardrails being less transparent than most people assume. The proposals focus on scaling protection for Wisconsin crypto consumers.
At the same time, the bills intend to build public trust, although limiting high-value trade. Representatives from Digital South Trust noted that the bills could minimise anonymity but build the foundation for safer and more credible crypto adoption in daily transactions. Wisconsin lawmakers highlighted that they are proposing an anti-fraud bill, not an anti-crypto one. The bills suggest that kiosk operators gather and verify every individual’s full legal name, date of birth, telephone number, residence address, and email address. Additionally, these operators need to obtain a copy of an individual’s government-issued ID, passport, or driver’s licence.
