The United States has seen a sudden drop in cryptocurrency ATMs, with 1,233 machines going offline in early March.
This decline comes shortly after Illinois Senator Dick Durbin proposed new legislation aimed at preventing fraud in the sector. The bill, known as the Crypto ATM Fraud Prevention Act, was introduced following reports of scams affecting users.
A Sudden Drop in Crypto ATMs
The global Bitcoin ATM network recorded a net loss of 1,100 machines in the first three days of March, with the US accounting for the majority of these closures. The decrease follows a period of growth in February, during which 860 new machines were installed across the country.
While the US saw a significant reduction, some new installations were reported in Europe, Canada, Spain, Poland, Australia, and Switzerland.
US Still Leads in Crypto ATM Presence
Despite the drop, the US remains the dominant player in the crypto ATM market. As of March 3, the country hosts 29,731 crypto ATMs, making up 79.9% of all such machines worldwide. Canada follows with 3,085 ATMs (8.3%), and Australia ranks third with 1,467 ATMs (3.9%).
The cryptocurrency ATM sector has faced slow growth since mid-2022 due to increasing regulatory scrutiny and enforcement actions against unregistered operators. Senator Durbin’s proposed legislation aims to introduce stricter requirements for ATM operators, including warnings to alert users about potential scams.
The bill also seeks to implement security measures to minimize financial losses and provide law enforcement with better tools to track illegal transactions.