On October 8, 2026, 34 state financial regulatory agencies announced a $2.5 million settlement with a Seattle based money transmitter that operates virtual currency kiosks. The most significant term is not the penalty. The company agreed to end its kiosk operations in the participating states by January 1, 2027, and will owe an additional $4 million penalty if it misses that deadline. The enforcement effort was led by Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Illinois, North Carolina, Ohio, and Washington.
The settlement resolves a multistate examination covering March 2023 through March 2025, along with a statement of charges the Washington Department of Financial Institutions issued in late 2025 under the Uniform Money Services Act, Chapter 19.230 RCW. The examination found the company’s Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering program deficient in transaction monitoring, know your customer procedures, suspicious activity reporting, enhanced due diligence, and recordkeeping. Washington’s charges went further. The state alleged that the company reported negative tangible net worth at the end of 2022, 2023, and 2024, filed inaccurate reports with the Department, and treated more than $8 million owed to customers on unredeemed kiosk vouchers as company income. Washington had issued a temporary cease and desist order in December 2025 and stayed it later that month under a separate consent order while the charges remained pending.
In addition to exiting the kiosk business, the company must pay $2.2 million in administrative penalties and $300,000 in costs. It must also retain an independent consultant to review the comprehensiveness and effectiveness of its Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering program, submit the consultant’s report to the states within six months, and correct any deficiencies within 12 months after the report is filed.
Much of the recent state response to crypto kiosks has come from legislatures, which have imposed transaction limits and disclosure requirements and, in Minnesota, a statewide ban that took effect August 1, 2026. This settlement reaches a comparable result for a single licensee through the examination process instead, relying on standard money transmitter requirements such as minimum net worth, accurate regulatory reporting, and a functioning anti-money laundering program rather than any kiosk specific statute. It is also a coordinated result, with dozens of states acting together through a single order instead of separate proceedings in each jurisdiction.