Canada proposes ban on crypto ATMs as fraud cases mount

[Oshosondy]

The last we heard of is Tennessee, a state in the United States that banned bitcoin and crypto ATMs. I think Canada is watching closely and now proposing to ban bitcoin and crypto ATMs.

Canada also stated the same reason which is scam, that crypto ATMs are tools for scammers.

https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/04/29/canada-proposes-ban-on-bitcoin-atms-as-fraud-cases-mount

[OcTradism]

The last we heard of is Tennessee, a state in the United States that banned bitcoin and crypto ATMs. I think Canada is watching closely and now proposing to ban bitcoin and crypto ATMs.

Canada also stated the same reason which is scam, that crypto ATMs are tools for scammers.

They can say it when they want to ban cryptocurrency ATMs but this reason is not convincing at all. It's like many other reasons used by governments when they want to ban Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies like tools for scammers, tools for money laundering and so on. All these reasons are not convincing because scammers, criminals use cash and fiat currency ATMs for the same purposes too.

Do governments ban fiat currency ATMs?
They don't.

General the regulatory trend on cryptocurrency ATMs is stricter with no KYC in the past, mandatory KYC now, but what they will do next?
Ban, I don't know that it can be done without protest from citizens.

[Dunamisx]

I'm not expecting such to be coming from Canada and I hope that this proposal will be rejected as many will kick against it, I'm still wondering why some are thinking that bitcoin is an element to perpetrate any form of fraudulent activity, I still wonder why they have not been considering Fiat as the worst instrument for all this scam that has been happening over time.

The government has to understand that people can take advantage of anything to scam others as long as they see it as a vulnerability against each other, maybe they need to learn and know why Bitcoin was created, and not for all these things they are saying.

[Charles-Tim]

General the regulatory trend on cryptocurrency ATMs is stricter with no KYC in the past, mandatory KYC now, but what they will do next?
Ban, I don't know that it can be done without protest from citizens.

The citizens may not protest because they can noticed that the ATMs are used truly by scammers, so they may not think about the importance of the ATMs especially if they think the scammers are not also in their country.

But ban is not the solution because scammers will always see means to scam their victims. What that is important is education about how to avoid being scammed.

There were scammers before bitcoin ATMs existence.

[Aanuoluwatofunmi]

The citizens needed to protest not because of the ATM that has been denied for their use, but everyone is going to eventually be affected by the government policy which will kick against the use of Bitcoin in Canada, they are cooking something that will not be acceptable by most of the citizens because the approach they are used in in seeing Bitcoin is completely on a wrong perspective, so I support if they can stage a protest against the government on Bitcoin ban, just as others have already suggested.

[promise444c5]

This is just like saying because people are being scammed through Facebook, let’s shutdown Facebook entirely or because scammers have built kingdoms on telegram and X let’s shut them down.

The most common scam with BTC & altcoins  ATM is scammers asking their victims to deposit cash through Bitcoin ATMs.. It’s well known and exposed on YT, and social medias to spread awareness but it seem more people aren’t still aware of it.

That’s why they get scammed and it sounds ridiculous when you hear how some of these people got scammed.

Will banning it solve it ? No.. but here we are with a proposal  

[sleepfirefly]

that’s quite saddening considering their stance on bitcoin long time ago.

Vancouver and Toronto were the leading Canadian cities in terms of businesses that accepted cryptocurrency in 2021. This is according to open-source tracking, which tried to list how many companies either had an in-store ATM or accepted them for POS payments.

there have been already adaption of bitcoin way back in 2021 for canada. while a municipality in canada has taken a bold step already way back in 2019.

The Town of Innisfil will be the first municipality in Canada to accept cryptocurrency (e.g., Bitcoin) as a method of payment for property taxes. Last night, Innisfil Council voted in favour of forming an agreement with the Toronto-based company, Coinberry Limited, who will provide the service for residents as part of a one-year pilot project.

i guess their early adaption has led to people taking advantage of the system and committing fraud. there has to be some kind of solution to avoid fraud cases while still maintaining development in a country.

[aylabadia05]

The last we heard of is Tennessee, a state in the United States that banned bitcoin and crypto ATMs. I think Canada is watching closely and now proposing to ban bitcoin and crypto ATMs.

Canada also stated the same reason which is scam, that crypto ATMs are tools for scammers.

https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/04/29/canada-proposes-ban-on-bitcoin-atms-as-fraud-cases-mount

If Canada was the first country in the world to host a Bitcoin ATM in 2013, then the government at the time had already gone through several stages of testing related to Bitcoin ATMs.
This news raises questions for me regarding the rationale behind parliament’s proposal for a national ban on Bitcoin and other crypto ATMs as part of a broader effort to combat fraud and money laundering—since all transactions using cryptocurrency can be easily traced. Perhaps this is a negative attempt on their part to engage in bad practices while scapegoating others.

[YellowSwap]

Ok, at this point in time I am starting to doubt anything that these people say about Bitcoin, the timing feels right, it's like something that just keeps repeating itself, are they doing this intentionally? Because it looks like it.

Every time these people don't want to see Bitcoin doing well is when bad news will keep coming up, why this time though? Because we are in bear market? It's also how South Africa is going after Bitcoin holder.

It feels like a bigger plan thats beyond one man pulling the strings, I have seen similar things in the past, Bitcoin is always a scam until the time is right for them and they decide to start bringing good news.

[serjent05]

Canada is proposing to ban crypto ATMs as part of a broader crackdown on fraud and money laundering, citing growing evidence that the machines have become a key tool for scammers.

Reading this statement makes me laugh at how absurd the one who proposed banning Bitcoin ATMs is, as if fraud and scams only happen in cryptocurrency.  There are huge events where fraud happens under their fiat currency.  I wonder why this person did not propose to ban ATMs altogether, both fiat and Crypto ATMs.

If they really want to lessen scams and fraud, they should aggressively hunt down peoples who commit scams and fraud not cryptocurrency because it is just a tool just like fiat currency.

[Charles-Tim]

Scammers do use crypto ATMs, so the concern is valid. But banning them completely might be too much. Bitcoin ATMs also help people access crypto easily. Stronger rules and warnings may be better than a full ban. 

Exactly, but one thing will still always remain, bitcoin does not have to function with bitcoin ATMs, but bitcoin ATMs need bitcoin and crypto to function, else they will be used for another thing like fiat, but bitcoin can still be bitcoin without the bitcoin ATMs. In my country, Bitcoin ATM is not common just because most people here see no reason to use it.

[sergiorus]

that's just a proposal.
they will probably ask to implement some KYC/AML verification because that's what it's always about and if ATM owners agree with that they will be able to keep them operated.

[Davidvictorson]

The last we heard of is Tennessee, a state in the United States that banned bitcoin and crypto ATMs. I think Canada is watching closely and now proposing to ban bitcoin and crypto ATMs.

Canada also stated the same reason which is scam, that crypto ATMs are tools for scammers.

https://www.coindesk.com/markets/2026/04/29/canada-proposes-ban-on-bitcoin-atms-as-fraud-cases-mount

Will a ban on crypto ATM in Canada curb the fraud cases?
What are the other alternatives on the table.

In my estimation the security agencies should improve on their methods to curb crypto frauds and crimes rather than ban the ATMs.

[Faisal2202]

The last we heard of is Tennessee, a state in the United States that banned bitcoin and crypto ATMs. I think Canada is watching closely and now proposing to ban bitcoin and crypto ATMs.

Canada also stated the same reason which is scam, that crypto ATMs are tools for scammers.

They should integrate AML checkers like they have in banks so criminals won't be able to move illicit cash into the crypto ecosystem. We should be thankful for one matter, that they are not using it to launder crypto but to launder cash into crypto. This way, they are bypassing traditional banking filters, and their cash is going into crypto and coming out clean.

BTC ATMs work in a way that they can easily be used to launder money, for example, in victimization cases, in which scammers, after impersonating someone else, ask victims to deposit cash into BTC ATMs, and once they send the funds, it becomes impossible to recover them.

Canada was the first country to have a BTC ATM, and now after 13 years, the government is working to eliminate them. The first BTC ATM was installed in a Vancouver coffee shop in 2013.

I fear more countries will also follow the same steps.

[The Cryptovator]

The last we heard of is Tennessee, a state in the United States that banned bitcoin and crypto ATMs. I think Canada is watching closely and now proposing to ban bitcoin and crypto ATMs.

Canada also stated the same reason which is scam, that crypto ATMs are tools for scammers.

They blame Bitcoin for money laundering and scams, but they can't prevent it even happening with fiat. All about just they blame blindly to Bitcoin. I don't think this is a good solution, banning Bitcoin or crypto ATMs. Rather, they would try to control crime and regulations for crypto. So citizens would take advantage of the Bitcoin.

In a country, major crypto users aren't scammers; only a few people often try to scam either through crypto or fiat. So only for a few people a large number of decent users have to suffer. That's why the government should take action to reduce crime rates. I am not sure how policymakers think, but banning crypto ATMs isn't going to prevent scams.

[Shadiq]

The government has to understand that people can take advantage of anything to scam others as long as they see it as a vulnerability against each other, maybe they need to learn and know why Bitcoin was created, and not for all these things they are saying.

Through fiat, fraudsters can cheat under the control of the government and the government can also claim a part of it if it wants. That is, the main purpose may be to keep the government in control of the fraudsters. Although the level of corruption in Canada is very low, it is not free from corruption. Since Bitcoin is decentralized and the government has no control over it, they have no control over the transactions of fraudsters or the general public. So they may be trying to ban Bitcoin by labeling Bitcoin as fraud, although fraud is more common in fiat, which they do not worry about much.

However, I did not have such expectations from Canada. Since this is still a proposal, I am not giving it much importance right now. There are many gaps between the proposal and the implementation, I think that the implementation of this proposal will have to face many obstacles which may be rejected at some point. .

[ZAINmalik75]

I'm not expecting such to be coming from Canada and I hope that this proposal will be rejected as many will kick against it, I'm still wondering why some are thinking that bitcoin is an element to perpetrate any form of fraudulent activity, I still wonder why they have not been considering Fiat as the worst instrument for all this scam that has been happening over time.

The government has to understand that people can take advantage of anything to scam others as long as they see it as a vulnerability against each other, maybe they need to learn and know why Bitcoin was created, and not for all these things they are saying.

BTC is not directly an element that they exploit for fraudulent activities. They have black money in cash; people who take corruption or any money that they don't want to be taxed go directly into BTC ATMs and then into crypto, and later they can't monitor the crypto trails and can't tax them. BTC ATMs are very old in many countries, and I just came to know from this topic that the first BTC ATM was built in Canada too.

Catching criminals is easier when it comes to fiat ATMs and banks, but when it comes to crypto, authorities have to spend more resources to catch the criminals. To reduce this factor, they are not compromising and are removing the cause from the root, which is an aggressive approach to clean the environment from such scammers. But I am thinking about their next tool. What will be the next thing that they ban, and what tool is going to replace BTC ATMs for these scammers? They can't just stop their business like that; they will find something else.

[retreat]

From the way I see it, this is just an excuse because they just do not like that more people can access Bitcoin more easily. They play the narrative that it is a "tool for scammers," even though it is not necessary to ban it completely. If the Canadian government sees that crypto ATMs are tools for scammers, they could make regulations that manage crypto ATMs more strictly, so that it minimizes the potential that they will be used by scammers to commit crimes. But the reality is they just do not see any profit on their side, so they just banned it completely.

[Hamza2424]

That’s why they get scammed and it sounds ridiculous when you hear how some of these people got scammed.

Will banning it solve it ? No.. but here we are with a proposal  

They definitely have another agenda, bro. If they wanted to solve a problem, they should raise awareness first. Closing them down completely is not an option. They should have used a proper system in the first place, because if anyone could use these ATMs for illicit work, that means they did not follow any AML standards. If they had no such standards in place, then why did they take so much time to ban them?

Why now?

They always do things that benefit them the most. Now they must be arranging a new rule to tax more crypto users or whatever the main reason may be. This is not the solution.

[noorman0]

I'm not expecting such to be coming from Canada and I hope that this proposal will be rejected as many will kick against it,

I wouldn't object if I were a voter, if this proposal were truly justified based on crime statistics involving crypto ATMs. I don't know how popular crypto ATMs are there these days (reading the OP's article, the crypto ATM business is quite established there); this means the government benefits from a portion of the ATM business's fees. The Canadian government's efforts to protect its citizens should still be commended, as they also sacrifice revenue from this sector.
We shouldn't expect widespread adoption to be accompanied by increased fraud rates; Bitcoin should be out of reach of gullible people.