Overview
- The measure, signed by Governor Josh Green on July 9, 2026, makes it unlawful after Oct. 1 for a kiosk operator to accept U.S. currency in exchange for a digital asset while still allowing withdrawals and crypto-to-crypto exchanges.
- The law places the prohibition inside Hawaii’s consumer-protection statute, Chapter 481B, and treats each cash-to-crypto purchase as a separate offense for enforcement and penalties.
- State and federal investigators say the ban responds to a sharp rise in kiosk-linked scams: the FBI’s IC3 logged 92 Hawaii kiosk complaints and about $3.85 million in adjusted losses in 2025, and AG probes in Washington, D.C. and Iowa found very high fraud rates at examined machines.
- Operators must disable cash-purchase functions or remove machines before the deadline, affecting about 57 kiosks across four islands and raising concerns about access for cash-dependent residents who use kiosks to buy crypto.
- Hawaii’s step adds to a growing patchwork of state actions that range from transaction bans to full kiosk prohibitions and tighter rules on operators while federal FinCEN registration requirements for money-service businesses remain in place.