Haverhill Declares War on Crypto ATMs: You've Got 60 Days to Pack Your Bags (Or $300/Day)

Haverhill, Massachusetts is about to become the latest city to tell crypto ATMs to hit the road. The city council is set to weigh a ban on cryptocurrency ATMs after Mayor Melinda E. Barrett introduced an ordinance on March 17. Because nothing says "welcome to the future of finance" quite like your local government telling your Bitcoin kiosk to get lost.

The proposal earned a unanimous 11-0 vote at the March 17 meeting. If it passes, all crypto kiosks and ATMs in Haverhill would need to vanish within 60 days—or face a cheeky $300 daily fine. That's roughly 0.0000043 Bitcoin at today's prices, for those keeping score at home. The fine is basically a "we're not mad, we're just disappointed" tax.

The ordinance points to "financial fraud, money laundering and lack of recourse" as the reasons for the crackdown. With no state or federal regulations in sight, local officials decided it was time to step in. Nothing like a regulatory vacuum to make mayors feel like they're playing whack-a-mole with DeFi disasters.

Haverhill isn't alone in this anti-crypto-ATM sentiment. Jurisdictions across the US are rolling out similar bans in response to scams and sketchy activity. Back in February, a Minnesota lawmaker introduced a bill that could ban crypto kiosks, building on 2024 restrictions. It's like a domino effect, but instead of fun memes, we're getting regulatory finger-pointing.

According to CoinATMRadar and Bitcoin Depot, there could be eight or more machines lurking in the Haverhill area. Eight machines that are probably wondering right now if they should start updating their LinkedIn profiles.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin Depot—the big kahuna of crypto ATM operators—is having a rough time. Its stock (BTM) has plummeted more than 90% in the past six months, trading at just $2.06 on the Nasdaq as of Tuesday. That's not a stock chart, that's a freefall with a parachute that didn't open.

The company also caught a cease-and-desist order from Connecticut banking regulators in March, effectively suspending its money transmission license. Authorities in Iowa and Massachusetts have also sued the company for allegedly helping facilitate crypto scams. Getting sued by states is basically a rite of passage in