Consumer reference · not advice

Texas Crypto Kiosks: The Ledger, Not the Advice

The dollar figure was buried in the dead file and the agency pages. The FBI table is the page. It is not a list of machines.

By TexasBitcoin · Published October 26, 2026 · Updated October 26, 2026

The short answer

In 2025 the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center recorded 1,179 Texas complaints involving cryptocurrency kiosks and $56,802,197 in adjusted losses, the largest dollar loss of any state. Florida filed more complaints, 1,213, for $32,765,444. Nationally the IC3 counted 13,460 such complaints and $388,981,267. Those losses are not solely kiosk transactions. Texas still has no statewide kiosk statute.

Key facts

The FBI IC3's 2025 state table lists Texas at 1,179 complaints and $56,802,197 in adjusted losses involving cryptocurrency kiosks.^[1]
Florida filed more complaints than Texas, 1,213, and reported $32,765,444 in adjusted losses — less money, more complaints.^[1]
Nationally the IC3 counted 13,460 kiosk-involved complaints and $388,981,267 in adjusted losses, and said more than half of the complaints involved people over 50.^[1]
The IC3 says a complaint may include other transaction types, so the loss totals cannot be attributed solely to kiosks.^[1]
SB 1705 passed the Senate on May 15, 2025 and died on the House calendar. HB 2798 passed the House on April 25, 2025 and died in Senate committee. Neither became law.^[4]^[5]
Commissioner Charles Cooper told the Senate on June 24, 2026 that a two-party kiosk sale of bitcoin for cash is not subject to Finance Code Chapter 152 unless the kiosk supports a stablecoin or involves a third party.^[6]

This page is the consumer reference the dead file and the Attorney General page were pointing at. It is not another bill history, not a directory of machines, and not advice about whether to use one. Pre-filing for the 90th Legislature opens November 9, 2026.^[7] The fight this page describes is the one most likely to be filed first. The 2027 bills page is where a filing will be logged.

What is a crypto kiosk under Texas law?

A machine that turns cash into bitcoin is not, by that fact alone, a money transmitter. Commissioner Charles Cooper told Senate Business and Commerce on June 24, 2026 that unless the kiosk supports a stablecoin or involves a third party, the transaction between the operator and the customer is not subject to Finance Code Chapter 152.^[6] That reading follows Supervisory Memorandum 1037: a two-party sale of bitcoin is a sale of goods, because bitcoin is not money under the Money Services Act.

The Department has sanctioned kiosk operators when the product was a stablecoin. Those orders — Coin Cloud, CoinFlip — are on the Banking page. They are not orders against a machine for selling bitcoin. The Tribune reported on July 8, 2026 that Texas regulators had no oversight of the kiosks as kiosks, and that an estimated 4,000 of the machines were installed in stores and stations. Nobody, the Tribune wrote, knows the exact count.^[2]

What did Texans report losing in 2025?

The primary table is the FBI's, not a rounded headline. As a supplement to the 2025 Internet Crime Report, the IC3 published cryptocurrency-kiosk complaints by state. Texas: 1,179 complaints, $56,802,197 in adjusted losses.^[1] That is the largest dollar figure of any state on the table. It is not the largest complaint count. Florida filed 1,213 complaints and $32,765,444.^[1]

Nationally the IC3 counted 13,460 complaints and $388,981,267 in adjusted losses, a 23 percent increase in complaints and a 58 percent increase in losses from 2024. More than half of the complaints involved people over 50, with losses over $302 million in that age group.^[1] The IC3's own caveat sits on the same page: the statistics include complaints in which a kiosk was used, and the complaint may also include other transactions, so the losses cannot be attributed solely to kiosks.^[1]

The pattern the IC3 describes is not an investment pitch. In typical complaints, criminals give instructions: how to withdraw cash, how to find a kiosk, how to send the funds.^[1] The Tribune's July 8, 2026 account is the Texas reporting of that pattern — fake sheriffs, fake court papers, a QR code, a machine in a store.^[2] Adam Colby, executive director of the Texas Financial Crimes Intelligence Center, told a House committee, in the Tribune's quotation, that the kiosks “serve no useful purpose.”^[2] That is one official's view. It is not a finding that every transaction is a crime.

What would the 2025 bills have done?

Two bills, two chambers, no statute. Senate Bill 1705, by Tan Parker, would have amended the Finance Code so a kiosk could not operate in Texas unless the operator registered it with the Department of Banking and got approval before turning it on.^[3] The House committee analysis describes quarterly location reports, on-screen disclosures that virtual currency is not legal tender and not FDIC-insured, a separate written warning about fraud and impersonation, receipts, blockchain analytics aimed at wallets known to be tied to fraud, a written antifraud policy, a full-time compliance officer, a daily transaction limit, and Finance Commission rules.^[3] The analysis's effective date was September 1, 2025.^[3]The bill passed the Senate on May 15, 2025 and died on the House calendar at sine die.^[4]

House Bill 2798 was the other design, a disclosure bill rather than a full registration chapter. It passed the House on April 25, 2025 and died in Senate Business and Commerce.^[5]The dead file keeps the vote path. This page keeps what the bills would have required, and what their death left in place: no statewide registration, no statutory daily cap, no required warning that law enforcement does not take payment at the machine.

The honest counterweight: the table is complaints, not a census

The IC3 number is the right number, and it is not a count of every dollar that moved through a Texas kiosk. The Bureau says so.^[1] A complaint can mix a kiosk with other transfers. People who do not report are not in the table. The Tribune noted that shame keeps victims quiet, which would make the reported total an undercount of the scam, not a measure of ordinary use.^[2]

Operators are not silent. The Tribune reported that CoinFlip's government-affairs director told a Senate committee the company supported consumer protections and wanted a uniform 2027 framework, and that some operators already run hotlines and post warnings the state does not require.^[2] A page that quotes Colby and not that sentence would be a brief, not a record.

This site does not list exchanges, and it does not list kiosks. If the first time a person meets Bitcoin is a stranger on the phone pointing at a machine, the FBI's instruction is the one to keep: no legitimate law-enforcement or government official demands payment through a cryptocurrency kiosk.^[1] That is a warning from the complaint center. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell, or avoid bitcoin itself.

Frequently asked questions

How much did Texans lose to crypto-kiosk scams in 2025?

The FBI's IC3 recorded 1,179 Texas complaints involving cryptocurrency kiosks and $56,802,197 in adjusted losses for 2025, the largest dollar loss of any state. Florida filed more complaints, 1,213, for $32,765,444. The IC3 says those losses cannot be attributed solely to the kiosk.

Are crypto kiosks regulated in Texas?

Not by a kiosk statute. SB 1705 passed the Senate on May 15, 2025 and died on the House calendar. HB 2798 passed the House on April 25, 2025 and died in a Senate committee. Commissioner Cooper told the Senate in June 2026 that a two-party sale of bitcoin for cash is not money transmission under Chapter 152.

What would SB 1705 have required?

Registration of each kiosk with the Texas Department of Banking before it could operate, quarterly location reports, on-screen risk disclosures, a written fraud warning, receipts, blockchain analytics, a compliance officer, a daily transaction cap, and Finance Commission rules. It did not become law. Its effective date would have been September 1, 2025.

Does the Attorney General sue kiosk operators?

No kiosk suit by the Texas Attorney General was located for this page. The Tribune's July 8, 2026 account names the FBI, the Department of Banking, and local prosecutors. The office's own record is on the Attorney General page. This page is not a list of machines and not advice about using one.

Is every kiosk transaction a scam?

No. The IC3 table counts complaints in which a kiosk was used, and says the complaint may also include other transactions. Operators told the Tribune they want a uniform framework and already post some warnings. The scam pattern the FBI describes is unsolicited contact, a cash withdrawal, a QR code, and a payment to a wallet the victim does not control.

Sources

Every datable claim above is sourced below. This is a research and reference article, not financial, legal, or consumer advice.