President Trump achieved a resounding victory in the 2024 election by expanding his coalition to include crucial constituencies beyond the America First movement. He fiercely campaigned for votes from Americans that the Biden Administration ignored, mocked, or mistreated. Most notably, the cryptocurrency industry and its investors—a group maligned by Joe Biden and far-left progressives like Elizabeth Warren—played a significant role in President Trump’s return to the White House.
President Trump was crystal clear on the campaign trail that his second administration would have crypto’s back in Washington. Yet again, it’s promises made, promises kept. The GENIUS Act, landmark crypto legislation creating a regulatory framework for stablecoins, recently passed the Senate with overwhelming support from Republicans. House Republicans are expected to follow suit, sending crypto’s biggest policy win ever to President Trump’s desk to become law.
Most Republicans support President Trump’s agenda for a thriving American cryptocurrency economy. However, a handful remain hostile towards the industry, particularly on the issue of cryptocurrency kiosks. Some consumers prefer or need to use cash for investing in crypto, and crypto kiosks are vital for completing these transactions. These machines are safe to use and are registered with the federal government as money service businesses, ensuring they adhere to the same anti-money laundering protocols as traditional ATMs. The bottom line is that crypto kiosks are crucial to the digital asset ecosystem and must remain a viable option for Americans who choose to use them.
Unfortunately, criminals occasionally exploit crypto kiosks to scam consumers out of their hard-earned cash. But let’s be clear: the service itself is not responsible for the actions of con artists. Yet a few elected Republicans are behaving like Democrats by blaming inanimate objects instead of pursuing accountability for the perpetrators.
The most high-profile example comes from Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird. Bizarrely standing shoulder-to-shoulder with bank lobbyists back in February, AG Bird announced a lawsuit alleging that two crypto kiosk operators turned a blind eye to criminals ripping off unsuspecting Iowans.
Bringing the weight of the government down on a business is something you’d expect to see in Gavin Newsom’s California, and an aggressive assault on an innovative method for crypto investing is not in line with President Trump’s goal to grow the industry. Worst yet, AG Bird’s lawsuit does nothing to put the thieves who are responsible behind bars. Talk about soft on crime.
Across the country, Republican state legislators have made the same mistake as AG Bird. So-called conservative lawmakers are teaming up with Democrats to support ideas such as transaction limits, fee caps, and bans on new kiosks. Such ideas that make operating a business impossible are a betrayal of the free-market principles we hear Republicans constantly champion.
Attempts to effectively abolish crypto kiosks are not an acceptable way to approach this problem. That’s not fair to consumers who rely on this service to participate in digital currency markets, nor to kiosk operators who have already invested money and resources in protecting consumers.
To eliminate scams at crypto kiosks, it will take national legislation that responsibly hardens kiosks against criminals and ensures consumers can easily spot the warnings of an attempted scam. A comprehensive package should require kiosk providers to utilize blockchain analytics, which is known to block transactions to digital wallets associated with criminals. Additionally, the bill should mandate anti-scam acknowledgments at all kiosks before any transaction can proceed, as well as have live customer service teams on standby to stop attempted scams.
Actions like this may sound small, but some companies have already proven these methods are successful in reducing scams. With lawmakers in Washington likely to consider additional crypto legislation later this year, they should include these reasonable consumer protection policies that will keep kiosks an accessible option for crypto investing well into the future.
President Trump wants the United States to win on digital assets. That’s only possible if all the ways Americans invest in crypto markets remain accessible.
Philip Labonte is a singer-songwriter, social commentator, and co-host of Timcast IRL.
