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Canada wants crypto ATMs gone. All of them.
The federal government dropped the plan in its Spring Economic Update 2026, and the target is clear: nearly 4,000 machines scattered across the country, more per person than anywhere else on the planet. Officials say these ATMs aren’t just convenient—they’re basically fraud factories. Scammers use them to drain victims, and crooks use them to wash dirty money. The government didn’t mince words. These machines have to go.
But here’s the thing. Canadians won’t lose access to crypto entirely. They’ll still be able to buy and sell digital assets through money services businesses that operate physical locations. The difference? Those businesses face actual oversight. They have to register, follow rules, keep records. Crypto ATMs? Not so much. And that gap is what turned them into a magnet for criminals.
Parliament Moves on Campaign Donations
While the ATM ban works its way through the approval process, lawmakers are pushing forward on another front. Bill C-25 just cleared its second reading in parliament, and it’s got support from multiple parties. The goal is simple: stop federal political campaigns from taking crypto donations. Period.
The bill heads to committee review next. No timeline yet on when it might become law, but the momentum is there. Politicians from different sides seem to agree that mixing crypto and campaign cash creates too many headaches—transparency issues, tracking problems, the whole mess.
Canada isn’t making this move in a vacuum. The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority ordered all crypto ATMs shut down back in 2022. The reason? None of them had proper legal registration. Australia cranked up its oversight in 2025. And in the United States, the numbers tell a pretty ugly story.
Bitcoin ATM scams cost Americans more than $333 million in 2025 alone. That’s up from $250 million the year before. The victims? Mostly older people, the kind who trust a machine that looks official, who follow instructions from someone claiming to be from the bank or the government or whatever lie works that day. The scammers walk them through the process, the cash goes in, and it’s gone. No reversals, no chargebacks, no getting it back.
Why ATMs Became a Target
Crypto ATMs don’t work like regular ATMs. You can’t just swipe a card and get your balance. These machines let you shove in cash and get Bitcoin or other coins sent to a wallet address. Some let you do the reverse—sell crypto for cash. Sounds convenient, right?
The problem is nobody’s really watching. Traditional money service businesses have to register with financial regulators, file reports, verify customer identities. Crypto ATM operators? The rules were always kind of murky. Some registered, some didn’t, enforcement was spotty. And criminals noticed.
The machines became a go-to tool for what’s called “pig butchering” scams—romance frauds where someone builds trust over weeks or months, then convinces the victim to “invest” through a crypto ATM. By the time the victim realizes what happened, the money’s been laundered through multiple wallets and offshore exchanges. Gone.
Canada’s concentration of these machines made the problem worse. With nearly 4,000 units for a population of roughly 40 million, the country had more crypto ATMs per capita than the United States, which has about 30,000 machines for 330 million people. The density created opportunities. Scammers could direct victims to nearby machines easily.
Law enforcement hated them. Tracking cash that goes into a crypto ATM is hard enough. Following the crypto after it leaves? Nearly impossible without cooperation from exchanges, and even then it’s a slog. The machines offered anonymity that traditional financial systems just don’t allow anymore.
Industry Pushback Expected
The ban hasn’t happened yet. It’s outlined in the economic update, but it needs to work through the approval process. ATM operators will probably fight it—there’s money in those machines. Transaction fees run high, sometimes 10% or more. For operators, it’s been a lucrative business.
They’ll argue that legitimate users exist, that some people prefer the privacy, that banning ATMs punishes law-abiding Canadians for the actions of criminals. And sure, some of that’s true. But the government seems to have made up its mind. The fraud numbers are too big, the enforcement too difficult.
No specific timeline exists for when the ban takes effect. The government didn’t provide implementation details or a phase-out schedule. That’ll come later, assuming the proposal survives the review process intact.
Bill C-25 faces its own hurdles. Committee review can drag on, amendments can water things down, and crypto industry groups might lobby hard against it. Political donations aren’t huge money for most campaigns, but the principle matters to some lawmakers. Crypto represents innovation, freedom from traditional finance, all that. Banning it from politics sends a signal.
The United States hasn’t moved to ban crypto ATMs nationally, though some cities and states have increased scrutiny. The Federal Trade Commission has issued warnings, the FBI has published alerts, but the machines keep operating. Canada’s taking a harder line, joining the UK in deciding that the fraud risk outweighs whatever convenience the machines provide.
Australia’s approach landed somewhere in between—tighter rules, more oversight, but not an outright ban. Each country’s weighing the same factors: fraud losses, enforcement costs, legitimate use cases, industry impact.
For now, Canada’s crypto ATM operators are still running. The machines still accept cash, still dispense Bitcoin, still process transactions. But the clock’s probably ticking. When the ban drops, those 4,000 machines will need to disappear, and the industry will need to figure out what comes next.
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Frequently Asked Questions
When will Canada ban crypto ATMs?
The government hasn’t announced a specific timeline. The ban was outlined in the Spring Economic Update 2026 but still needs to complete the approval process before implementation.
Can Canadians still buy cryptocurrency after the ban?
Yes. Canadians will still be able to access digital assets through registered money services businesses operating at physical locations, which face stricter regulatory oversight than crypto ATMs.
What is Bill C-25?
Bill C-25 is proposed legislation that would prohibit federal political campaigns in Canada from accepting cryptocurrency donations. The bill passed its second reading with multi-party support and is now under committee review.
