- Bankruptcy court records confirm Heller Capital — not Genesis Coin — purchased all ~5,700 physical Coin Cloud machines for $4.45 million in July 2023. Genesis Coin purchased only the operating software. A widely reported Genesis Coin press release implied otherwise.
- One week after the sale closed, PowerCoin — Heller’s operating subsidiary — signed a cash collection services agreement for those same machines. Five months later, Chicago Atlantic lent $30 million against them.
- 1,668 former Margo/PowerCoin addresses confirmed across Bitstop’s network — 52.7% of the entire 3,163-terminal former network, cross-validated by four independent data sources
- Three personnel bridges documented: Michael Tomlinson (Coin Cloud CRO → Margo CRO → Zyng Corp CRO, where Bitstop is the Bitcoin ATM brand). Jorge Fernandez (Paramount/Heller → PowerCoin CRO, reporting to Heller → Magnus Consulting/Bitstop → Genesis Coin CDO, with a seven-month overlap at PowerCoin and a Bitstop entity). Charles Chatham (Margo Senior Account Manager → Bitstop Sales, January 2025). Chatham told a host in March 2025 that Bitstop was “the new owner of the machines.”
- Erik Halvorssen of Bitstop told a PowerCoin host in January 2025 that Bitstop was “absorbing PowerCoin machines” and that “PowerCoin is out of the picture.” Bitcoin ATM News confirmed this through a phone interview with the host and contemporaneous records.
- Former PowerCoin employee (unnamed) says insiders Daryl Heller, former CRO Michael Tomlinson, and Andrew Barnard coordinated the shuffling of PowerCoin locations and machines to Bitstop through 2024 and 2025, and that Bitstop was accessing cash inside PowerCoin machines — including those at Royal Farms
- Heller criminal trial rescheduled to September 10, 2026; SEC civil case stayed; Heller filed personal Chapter 11 in New Jersey listing Chicago Atlantic as ~$22 million creditor
This is a follow-up to our February 12, 2026 report on Chicago Atlantic’s nine-count lawsuit against ATM Ops Inc. (d/b/a Bitstop) alleging conversion of 4,000+ Bitcoin ATMs after PowerCoin’s $30 million loan default. That article covered the complaint. This one covers what our reporting has found independently.
A note on names: PowerCoin also operated under the DBA “Bitstop” in addition to the trade name “Margo.” ATM Ops Inc., the defendant in Chicago Atlantic’s lawsuit, is a separate Florida entity that also does business as Bitstop. The shared DBA is itself a point of contention in the litigation.
The Coin Cloud Machine Trail: What the Court Record Actually Shows
The machines at the center of the Chicago Atlantic v. Bitstop lawsuit have a chain of title that runs directly through Daryl Heller’s indicted empire — established by bankruptcy court records that contradict a widely reported Genesis Coin press release.
The June 16, 2023 Asset Sale Motion in the Cash Cloud bankruptcy (In re Cash Cloud, Inc., Case No. 23-10423-mkn, Bankr. D. Nev.), approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Nevada on June 30, 2023, authorized a bifurcated sale with two separate buyers:
“Heller Capital would purchase all of the Debtor’s DCMs, estimated to be 5,700, for a purchase price of $4,450,000, free and clear of liens. Genesis Coin would separately purchase the operating software used by the purchased DCMs for a purchase price of no less than $1,500,000.”
- Buyer of all ~5,700 physical machines (DCMs): Heller Capital Group — $4,450,000
- Buyer of operating software only: Genesis Coin — $1,500,000 (Genesis Coin is now suing over this purchase, alleging Cash Cloud never delivered the IP)
The sale closed July 14, 2023. This is unambiguous in the court record: Heller Capital, the parent company of PowerCoin/Margo, owned the hardware. Genesis Coin owned the software.
The Press Release vs. the Court Record
Four days after the sale closed, Genesis Coin issued a press release on July 18–19, 2023, headlined: “Genesis Coin Announces Acquisition of Certain Assets from Coincloud, Becomes The Undisputed Leading Worldwide Software Platform For Bitcoin ATM.”
Key language from the release: “Genesis Coin will now add over 5,700 terminals to its existing base of over 12,000 ATMs in over 11 countries as well as having exclusive access to an additional 2,600 ATMs not yet deployed.”
Douglas Carrillo — Bitstop’s co-founder and a named defendant in Chicago Atlantic’s lawsuit — was quoted: “We look forward to working with our existing partners in bringing over 8,000 new Bitcoin ATMs live under the Genesis Coin and Bitstop Bitcoin ATM software platforms.”
The discrepancy: The press release never names Heller Capital Group as the buyer of the machines. Its language — “Genesis Coin will now add over 5,700 terminals” — would lead a reasonable reader to interpret Genesis Coin/Bitstop as acquiring those machines, when the court record shows a Heller entity was the actual hardware buyer. Genesis Coin purchased only the operating software.
This matters for several reasons. Heller was actively running what the DOJ and SEC now describe as a $770 million Ponzi scheme during this period, raising investor money by claiming to own large fleets of ATMs. A press release from the industry’s leading software company implying those machines were part of the Genesis Coin/Bitstop ecosystem provided third-party credibility for Heller’s machine-inventory claims. Andrew Barnard had publicly declared in the January 2023 Genesis Coin acquisition release: “We do not operate machines. We have no operator ownership. We avoid conflicts of interest.” Disclosing that the hardware buyer was a Heller Capital affiliate — while Genesis Coin provided the software — would have undercut that “no conflicts” positioning.
The One-Week Gap: PowerCoin’s Cash Collection Agreement
Court records from the Genesis Coin v. Cash Cloud lawsuit reveal that on July 21, 2023 — one week after the asset sale closed — PowerCoin entered into a cash collection services agreement with Cash Cloud for the Coin Cloud machines. This agreement formalized PowerCoin as the entity physically collecting cash from the kiosks Heller Capital had just purchased.
The operational chain is now fully documented:
By December 2023, Chicago Atlantic was lending against machines that: (a) Heller Capital purchased from bankruptcy, (b) were being operated by PowerCoin via a cash collection agreement signed one week after closing, (c) ran on Genesis Coin software, and (d) were managed day-to-day by Bitstop/ATM Ops. A Heller Capital operating agreement describes Bitstop as an HCG affiliate.
The Personnel Bridge: Coin Cloud → Margo → Bitstop
The movement of machines and merchant relationships from Coin Cloud through Heller’s entities to Bitstop was accompanied by a parallel movement of personnel — documented through public LinkedIn profiles and corporate filings.
Michael Tomlinson: The Man Who Knew Where the Machines Were
Michael Tomlinson served as Chief Revenue Officer of Coin Cloud from November 2020 through the February 2023 bankruptcy. In that role, he managed the retail relationships that placed Bitcoin ATMs inside Royal Farms, Yesway, 7-Eleven, and other convenience store chains.
In June 2023 — the same month the Cash Cloud bankruptcy court was considering the asset sale motion — Tomlinson became Chief Revenue Officer of Margo, the PowerCoin trade name. He brought direct institutional knowledge of every Coin Cloud retail relationship to the entity that was simultaneously acquiring those machines through Heller Capital.
Tomlinson wasn’t merely present during the Chicago Atlantic loan — he was a named point of contact. A December 21, 2023 BusinessWire press release announcing the $16 million senior secured term loan from Chicago Atlantic to Margo lists Michael Tomlinson, Chief Revenue Officer, as one of the company’s media contacts. The same press release names Austin Haller as CEO of Margo — a surname that matches the Daryl Heller who controlled the entity through Heller Capital LLC.
This means Tomlinson had direct knowledge of the Chicago Atlantic loan, its terms, and the liens securing it. By the time Chicago Atlantic funded PowerCoin in December 2023, Margo’s CRO had 2.5+ years of Coin Cloud operational knowledge, was running former Coin Cloud machines under former Coin Cloud retail relationships serviced by Bitstop on Genesis Coin software — and was publicly listed on the press release for the very loan whose collateral would allegedly be shuffled to Bitstop over the following year.
The former PowerCoin employee told Bitcoin ATM News that Tomlinson continued coordinating with Barnard and Heller on the movement of PowerCoin locations and machines to Bitstop even after Tomlinson left PowerCoin. If accurate, Tomlinson would have been participating in the movement of assets he knew were encumbered by Chicago Atlantic’s perfected first-priority lien.
The Zyng Corp connection: Tomlinson is publicly listed as CRO on the team page of Zyng Corp, a kiosk services company. Zyng Corp’s services page prominently features the Bitstop logo and brand name under “Buy Bitcoin,” stating: “Customers can purchase Bitcoin at the Kiosk using cash. Bitstop is one of largest and most respected brands in America.” This establishes a public triangle: Tomlinson → Zyng Corp → Bitstop. Whether this reflects a dual role, a post-Margo landing, or simply a website that hasn’t been updated, Bitstop is listed as Zyng’s Bitcoin ATM brand on the same website that names Tomlinson as CRO.
Note: Zyng Technologies (associated with Zyng Corp’s COO David Rankine) faces a separate lawsuit from a cash vaulting partner alleging over $4 million in embezzlement from ATMs across the Las Vegas Valley, per the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Rankine disputed the amount but confirmed some employees “may have stuck their hand in the cookie jar.”
Charles Chatham: “Bitstop Is the New Owner of the Machines”
Charles Chatham’s LinkedIn profile documents a direct personnel transfer between the Heller-controlled entity and Bitstop:
- February 2009–2020: Cardtronics (14 years), rising to Senior Service Account Manager overseeing 36,000 ATMs and national retail relationships including H-E-B, CVS, Walgreens, and Kroger
- January 2023–January 2025: Senior Account Manager, Operations — Margo/PowerCoin (Dallas-Fort Worth)
- January 2025–Present: Sales/Account Management — Bitstop (Miami)
Chatham moved from the defaulted borrower to the entity Chicago Atlantic accuses of converting its collateral in January 2025 — eight months after PowerCoin’s May 2024 default. His LinkedIn “About” section was never updated; it still reads “As a Senior Account Manager at PowerCoin, I leverage my extensive experience…” and “My mission is to create long-lasting…relationships…while driving growth and efficiency for PowerCoin.”
Around March 21, 2025, a host reported to Bitcoin ATM News that “Charles from Bitstop” — matching Chatham’s January 2025 Bitstop start date — told them:
“The new company is branding itself as Bitstop, the new owner of the machines.”
This is a direct, contemporaneous oral ownership claim made ten months after PowerCoin defaulted, while Chicago Atlantic held a perfected first-priority UCC-1 lien on all PowerCoin assets including those machines. If Chatham was telling hosts that Bitstop was “the new owner of the machines,” that is precisely the kind of evidence that supports Chicago Atlantic’s conversion theory. A lender with a perfected lien had not released its claim. Bitstop’s representative was telling retail hosts the opposite.
Jorge Fernandez: From Heller’s Paramount to PowerCoin to Bitstop
Jorge Fernandez’s LinkedIn profile documents the most complete personnel chain in this story, running from Heller’s traditional ATM business through his Bitcoin ATM venture and into the Bitstop ecosystem.
Fernandez served as a VP/Executive at Paramount Management Group — Heller’s traditional ATM company — where he grew the network from under 3,000 to more than 15,000 ATM locations. In June 2019, he became General Manager and Chief Revenue Officer of PowerCoin, reporting directly to Daryl Heller as CEO of Heller Capital Group. His LinkedIn describes his role in launching PowerCoin as Heller Capital’s first Bitcoin ATM venture and credits him with building it into one of the world’s four largest Bitcoin ATM deployers.
In August 2022 — while still at PowerCoin — Fernandez simultaneously began a role as Managing Partner of Magnus Consulting, a firm his LinkedIn headline identifies as “Bitstop/GoldATM.” This creates a documented overlap period of approximately seven months (August 2022 through March 2023) during which Fernandez held roles at both a Heller entity and a Bitstop-branded entity.
In March 2023 — the same month Bitstop acquired Genesis Coin — Fernandez became Chief Development Officer of Genesis Coin, overseeing U.S. and international expansion, partnerships, and M&A. His LinkedIn describes the combined entity as accounting for “more than 53% of all cryptocurrency ATM transactions globally.” A LinkedIn post from Fernandez around this period announced: “BitcoinATM.com officially unites the Bitstop and Genesis Coin brands.”
Fernandez left the Genesis Coin CDO role in June 2024 — one month after PowerCoin’s May 2024 default on the Chicago Atlantic loan. The timing is notable, though Bitcoin ATM News has no evidence establishing a causal link.
The Fernandez career chain: Paramount (Heller’s traditional ATM company) → PowerCoin (Heller’s Bitcoin ATM subsidiary, reporting to Heller) → Magnus Consulting (Bitstop/GoldATM, overlapping with PowerCoin) → Genesis Coin (Bitstop’s software platform). Of the three documented personnel bridges — Tomlinson, Chatham, and Fernandez — Fernandez is the only one whose public profile places him at a Bitstop-affiliated entity while still at a Heller entity.
“PowerCoin Is Out of the Picture”: What Halvorssen Told a Host
In January 2025 — the same month Chatham moved from Margo to Bitstop — a PowerCoin host had a conversation with Erik Halvorssen of ATM Ops (Bitstop) about the status of the machines at the host’s location. Bitcoin ATM News confirmed the details of this conversation through a phone interview with the host and contemporaneous records. What Halvorssen described was not the posture of a passive servicer waiting for a legal dispute to resolve. It was a company actively taking over a network.
According to the host, Halvorssen stated that Bitstop had “recently been absorbing PowerCoin machines” and that “PowerCoin is out of the picture at this point. We just started taking them over.”
Halvorssen explained the pitch Bitstop was making to retail locations left in limbo by PowerCoin’s collapse: “We can quickly turn them on, settle up with merchants… We can remove the machine or resume paying.”
Most critically, Halvorssen acknowledged that Bitstop was aware of the encumbrances on the kiosks. He confirmed the company had been “contacted by creditors” and knew that “most of these machines have liens.” Despite this, he represented that the machines were “being leased to us by PowerCoin” — that PowerCoin “still owns them, but they get a cut” — while simultaneously claiming Bitstop was “operating these on behalf of creditors.”
Key tension: Halvorssen’s characterization — that Bitstop was “operating on behalf of creditors” — is directly contradicted by Chicago Atlantic’s complaint, which alleges Bitstop “refused to provide basic information” about BTM locations, serial numbers, merchant leases, transaction histories, and the disposition of revenues despite the lender’s perfected security interest. And two months later, Chatham was telling hosts that Bitstop was “the new owner.”
The Host’s Story: “They Settled Up and the Machine Never Left”
To understand how the network transition looked at street level, Bitcoin ATM News spoke with a former PowerCoin merchant host who requested anonymity for this article.
After PowerCoin went dark and lease payments abruptly stopped in mid-2024, the host was left with a dormant machine occupying valuable floor space. Before they could arrange for the kiosk’s removal, Bitstop stepped in.
“They reached out and made it very simple,” the host told Bitcoin ATM News. “They basically said PowerCoin was done, but they could turn the machine back on immediately and resume our payments. As a store owner, you just want the rent you were promised.”
The host confirmed that the physical machine never left the premises. Bitstop settled outstanding balances, applied their own branding to the operations, and payments resumed. No one from Chicago Atlantic or any other creditor ever contacted the host about the lien on the equipment.
The Insider Account: Coordinated from the Inside
A former PowerCoin employee, who also requested anonymity for this article, provided Bitcoin ATM News with additional context on how the transition was orchestrated. According to this source, the movement of PowerCoin locations and machines to Bitstop was not an organic market response to a defaulted operator — it was a coordinated effort.
The former employee told Bitcoin ATM News that Daryl Heller, former PowerCoin CRO Michael Tomlinson — even after Tomlinson left PowerCoin — and Andrew Barnard were all coordinating the shuffling of PowerCoin locations and machines to Bitstop throughout 2024 and 2025. The source also confirmed that Bitstop was accessing cash inside PowerCoin machines, including those at Royal Farms locations.
The Tomlinson and Chatham career histories documented above — through publicly available LinkedIn profiles and corporate filings — are consistent with the former employee’s account. They do not prove coordination, but they establish that key personnel with deep knowledge of the PowerCoin/Margo merchant network moved directly to entities associated with Bitstop.
Bitcoin ATM News has not independently verified the former employee’s claims of coordination through documentary evidence. The source’s identity is known to the editors. Their account is presented here as a firsthand claim from a person with direct knowledge of PowerCoin’s operations, not as established fact.
The Data: 52.7% of the Former PowerCoin Network
The documentary record, source interviews, and personnel movements are backed by a substantial data trail. Across multiple snapshots of public listings on CoinATMRadar.com (May 2025, December 2025, March 2026) and Bitstop’s own website (bitstop.co, March 2026), Bitcoin ATM News identified 1,668 unique former Margo/PowerCoin addresses that have appeared under Bitstop’s name — 52.7% of the entire former 3,163-terminal network.
At any single point in time, roughly 40% of Bitstop’s active fleet sits at former Margo/PowerCoin addresses. The 1,668 figure represents the cumulative union: because Bitstop’s network has been in constant flux — adding and dropping former PowerCoin locations across snapshots — the total number of former PowerCoin sites that have appeared under Bitstop’s name is higher than what any single listing shows.
The data is corroborated by Bitstop’s own website. Of the 2,750 locations listed on bitstop.co and 2,709 on CoinATMRadar.com in March 2026, 2,607 addresses appear in both — a 95% overlap. Because Bitstop’s own published listings independently confirm the CoinATMRadar.com findings, these numbers cannot be dismissed as a third-party listing artifact.
Royal Farms: From Coin Cloud to Heller to PowerCoin to Bitstop
The Royal Farms merchant relationship illustrates the full chain of title. Coin Cloud operated Bitcoin ATMs at Royal Farms locations prior to its February 2023 bankruptcy. Following Heller Capital’s purchase of the Coin Cloud machines in July 2023, PowerCoin/Margo assumed operational control via the cash collection agreement — with Tomlinson, the former Coin Cloud CRO who had originally managed these retail relationships, now serving as Margo’s CRO. Chicago Atlantic’s December 2023 UCC-1 perfected a first-priority lien on all PowerCoin assets, which would include the Royal Farms merchant agreements.
After PowerCoin defaulted in May 2024, Bitstop publicly announced an “exclusive” Royal Farms partnership on November 12–13, 2025 — 310 locations, machines described as already “live.” Our data confirms the overlap: across every snapshot from CoinATMRadar.com and Bitstop’s own website, approximately 85–88% of Bitstop’s Royal Farms locations match former Margo/PowerCoin addresses, with 264 confirmed former PowerCoin sites. Every Royal Farms Bitcoin ATM in every data source is operated exclusively by Bitstop — no other operator has a single machine in a Royal Farms store. A YouTube video posted in August 2025 shows a Bitstop-branded machine inside a Royal Farms location with a placard reading “Owned and Operated by: Express BTM, LLC” — yet another trade name layered over the same physical hardware chain.
The UNFI connection is also notable here. Several chains that appeared in Bitstop’s network during the litigation period — including Cub Foods, Redner’s Markets, Coborn’s, and Save A Lot — are UNFI (United Natural Foods, Inc.) retailer partners. At the UNFI Holiday & Winter Show in Las Vegas in July 2025 — during the pendency of the Montgomery County action — Bitstop pitched itself from Booth #633 as “the leading Bitcoin ATM network in the U.S.,” presenting to the same retailer universe whose locations were originally secured under Coin Cloud’s and then PowerCoin’s merchant agreements.
The Location Shuffle: Rotation During Litigation
The data reveals not just absorption, but active portfolio restructuring during the litigation period.
May 2025 → December 2025 (7 months, spanning Montgomery County PA action):
- 452 former-Margo addresses dropped
- 423 different former-Margo addresses added
- Net change: −29
- Gas station chains declined sharply: Shell (50→27), BP (35→18), Mobil (27→11)
- New grocery/specialty chains appeared from zero: Spec’s Wine & Spirits (0→85), Save A Lot (0→38), Redner’s Markets (0→41), Cub Foods (0→38)
December 2025 → March 2026 (3 months, spanning Miami-Dade filing and Motion to Stay):
- 102 former-Margo addresses dropped
- 53 added
- Net change: −49
- Indiana: complete state exit (30→0)
- Save A Lot: collapsed from 38 to 14
Throughout this period, Bitstop’s total fleet grew from 2,088 to 2,709–2,750 machines — an increase of more than 600. The traceable former PowerCoin locations were being replaced with new, non-Margo sites, even as the overall network expanded. The contraction accelerated as litigation intensified: a net loss of 29 former-Margo locations in seven months, followed by a net loss of 49 in just three.
This pattern is consistent with what Chicago Atlantic alleges in its complaint: that Bitstop has been “obscuring the location of the BTMs.” Bitcoin ATM News makes no assertion about intent. The data shows correlation between litigation activity and location churn, not causation. But the scale of the rotation — hundreds of addresses swapped — during a period in which Bitstop was actively resisting discovery requests for exactly this type of location data is, at minimum, notable.
“Servicer” in Court, “Operator” in Public, “Owner” to Hosts
One of the central tensions in this case is how Bitstop describes itself — and to whom.
In court filings, Bitstop characterizes its PowerCoin relationship as analogous to a bank hiring Brink’s to service its ATMs — a passive servicer with no ownership interest. Its February 2026 Motion to Stay similarly positions Bitstop as merely operating equipment that may belong to the Heller bankruptcy estate.
In public, the picture is different. All 2,709–2,750 Bitstop locations are listed under Bitstop’s name as “Operator” in both CoinATMRadar.com and on Bitstop’s own website. Bitstop’s own website footer contains a disclosure: “Bitstop owns and operates certain Bitcoin ATM machines (‘Machines’) while also providing licensed software solutions (‘Software’) that are utilized in other Machines operated by independent third-party entities (‘Operators’).” That is a hybrid model — not the Brink’s analogy.
To hosts, Bitstop went further still. Chatham told at least one retail host in March 2025 that Bitstop was “the new owner of the machines.” Halvorssen told a PowerCoin host in January 2025 that Bitstop was “absorbing” the machines and acknowledged that “most of these machines have liens.”
To the industry in January 2023, Andrew Barnard declared: “We do not operate machines. We have no operator ownership. We avoid conflicts of interest.” That statement was made in a Genesis Coin acquisition press release at the precise moment Barnard was consolidating Genesis Coin’s market dominance — six months before Heller Capital purchased 5,700 Coin Cloud machines that would run on Genesis Coin software and be serviced by Bitstop.
The Heller Criminal Case: Current Status
Daryl Heller was indicted September 3, 2025 on one count of securities fraud and four counts of wire fraud by the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. The SEC simultaneously filed a civil complaint alleging a $770 million fraud affecting approximately 2,700 investors.
- Criminal trial rescheduled: Originally April 13, 2026; rescheduled to September 10, 2026 after a continuance motion by U.S. District Judge Catherine Henry
- SEC civil case stayed: As of approximately March 2, 2026, Judge Henry stayed all deadlines and discovery pending resolution of the criminal case
- Personal bankruptcy: Heller filed Chapter 11 in New Jersey in February 2025, listing Chicago Atlantic among his largest creditors at approximately $22 million
- Chicago Atlantic bankruptcy objection: In June 2025, Chicago Atlantic filed a formal objection to a proposed Heller bankruptcy settlement with Deerfield Capital, arguing it violated absolute priority rules
- Examiner findings: Heller’s operation sold 794 BTMs more than once to separate purchasers; PowerCoin and Heller Capital deposited nearly $70 million into operating accounts used for Ponzi distributions
The SEC’s civil complaint specifically alleges Heller misappropriated more than $185 million of investor funds for personal use, while Paramount’s ATMs generated only $28.6 million in legitimate income over seven years against $397 million in investor distributions.
The strategic tension remains stark: Bitstop asks the Miami-Dade court to pause everything because the BTMs may belong to a bankrupt Ponzi estate — while simultaneously operating 2,709–2,750 machines, growing its fleet, pitching UNFI retailers at trade shows, swapping machines at former PowerCoin locations, and generating revenue from a network that is 40% composed of former Margo addresses.
What we independently confirmed | What’s alleged | What Bitstop says
- Independently confirmed: Bankruptcy court records show Heller Capital — not Genesis Coin — purchased the 5,700 Coin Cloud machines. PowerCoin signed a cash collection agreement one week later. Bitstop operated at 1,668 former PowerCoin addresses (52.7% of network). Royal Farms is 100% Bitstop-exclusive with 264 former-Margo matches. Halvorssen told a PowerCoin host that Bitstop was “absorbing” machines and knew about liens. Chatham told a host Bitstop was “the new owner of the machines” in March 2025. Tomlinson’s career path runs Coin Cloud CRO → Margo CRO → Zyng Corp CRO (where Bitstop is the Bitcoin ATM brand). Fernandez’s path runs Paramount (Heller) → PowerCoin CRO (reporting to Heller) → Magnus Consulting (Bitstop/GoldATM, overlapping with PowerCoin) → Genesis Coin CDO.
- Alleged in complaint: Bitstop converted collateral, diverted revenues, refused to provide information, and conspired with Barnard and Carrillo to deprive Chicago Atlantic of its security interest.
- Claimed by former insider: Heller, Tomlinson, and Barnard coordinated the movement of locations and machines to Bitstop through 2024–2025. Not independently verified by documentary evidence.
- Bitstop’s position: It is a servicer operating equipment that may belong to the Heller bankruptcy estate. The Miami case should be stayed pending bankruptcy resolution.
What Happens Next
Chicago Atlantic’s response to Bitstop’s Motion to Stay was due March 19, 2026. If the court denies the stay, the litigation moves to the merits — and the questions of receiver appointment, temporary injunction, and personal liability for Andrew Barnard and Douglas Carrillo come into focus.
Heller’s criminal trial, now set for September 10, 2026, may produce testimony relevant to the machine ownership chain and the relationships between Heller Capital, PowerCoin, Genesis Coin, and Bitstop. The SEC civil case is stayed pending the criminal resolution.
If the court grants the stay, the case effectively freezes until the Heller bankruptcy liquidation resolves who owns the BTMs. That could take months or years — during which Bitstop would presumably continue operating the machines, collecting revenue, and — as the data shows — rotating former PowerCoin locations out of its network while swapping in new equipment at the same retail addresses.
Several questions remain outstanding that Bitstop has not addressed publicly:
- Why did the July 2023 Genesis Coin press release state Genesis Coin would “add over 5,700 terminals” when the bankruptcy court record shows Heller Capital purchased the physical machines?
- Did Genesis Coin or Bitstop disclose to Chicago Atlantic — before or during the December 2023 loan negotiations — that the machines being pledged as collateral were purchased by Heller Capital in the Coin Cloud bankruptcy?
- What is the current status of the Royal Farms Bitcoin ATM locations — are those the same physical units purchased by Heller Capital in July 2023?
ATM Ops/Bitstop has not filed a public defense or issued any public statement addressing Chicago Atlantic’s allegations. Bitcoin ATM News will continue to report on this case as it develops.
About This Investigation
This report reflects independent reporting by Bitcoin ATM News drawing on: (1) bankruptcy court records from In re Cash Cloud, Inc., Case No. 23-10423-mkn (Bankr. D. Nev.); (2) publicly filed litigation documents from Chicago Atlantic v. ATM Ops and Genesis Coin v. Cash Cloud; (3) address-matching analysis across four independent data sources including CoinATMRadar.com snapshots and Bitstop’s own website; (4) publicly available LinkedIn profiles and corporate websites; (5) source interviews conducted by Bitcoin ATM News staff.
Jorge Fernandez’s LinkedIn profile and public posts were reviewed as primary source documentation of his career history. The former PowerCoin host, former PowerCoin employee, and the host who reported the March 2025 Chatham conversation requested anonymity; their identities are known to the editors. Halvorssen’s statements were relayed to Bitcoin ATM News by the host he spoke with in January 2025, confirmed through a phone interview and contemporaneous records. No party named in this article has been contacted for comment prior to publication; a comment request is outstanding.
This report does not constitute legal advice. All parties are presumed innocent until proven otherwise.