Bitcoin News

Story: Canada to Shut Down All Crypto ATMs as Fraud Losses Mount

By Evie Vavasseur

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Parliament Moves on Campaign Donations. While the ATM ban works its way through the approval process, lawmakers are pushing forward on…

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Why ATMs Became a Target. Crypto ATMs don't work like regular ATMs. You can't just swipe a card and get your balance.

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Canada wants crypto ATMs gone. All of them.

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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…

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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…

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The bill heads to committee review next. No timeline yet on when it might become law, but the momentum is there.

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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?

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Bitcoin ATM scams cost Americans more than $333 million in 2025 alone. That's up from $250 million the year before. The victims?

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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…

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The problem is nobody's really watching. Traditional money service businesses have to register with financial regulators, file reports, verify customer identities.

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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"…

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Read also: Dollar Slides as Crypto Traders Watch Fed and BOJ for Rate Signals

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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…

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Law enforcement hated them. Tracking cash that goes into a crypto ATM is hard enough. Following the crypto after it leaves?

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The ban hasn't happened yet. It's outlined in the economic update, but it needs to work through the approval process.

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