Tennessee Bitcoin ATM Regulations

Review and sources

Summary reviewed: 2026-04-25. Official source. This is a dated summary; later amendments may change these requirements.

Overview

On April 23, 2026, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed HB 2505 into law as 2026 Tennessee Public Chapter 766, making it a Class A misdemeanor for "a virtual kiosk operator or other person to knowingly install or allow installation of, permit, place, or otherwise operate a virtual currency kiosk" anywhere in the state.

The bill passed the Tennessee House 94-0 and the Senate 32-0 on March 16, 2026 — a unanimous 126-0 vote across both chambers. Sponsors were House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) and Representative Jay Reedy (R-Erin). Tennessee is the second U.S. state to enact a complete ban on Bitcoin ATMs after Indiana (HEA 1116).

The law takes effect July 1, 2026. The statute draws no distinction between operators with strong compliance programs and those without — both are criminalized equally. The bill amends TCA Titles 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 13, 29, 39, 45, 47, and 67.

Enforcement

Penalties & Enforcement

Operating a virtual currency kiosk in Tennessee on or after July 1, 2026 is a Class A misdemeanor:

• Up to 11 months and 29 days in jail
• Fines up to $2,500
• Each instance of installation, permission, placement, or operation can be charged separately

Enforcement falls primarily to local district attorneys, with civil-side oversight available through the Tennessee Attorney General. Because the offense is a per-se violation of the new statute, prosecutors do not need to prove consumer harm — only that the kiosk was knowingly installed, permitted, placed, or operated.

Property Owner Liability

Property Owner Liability

The statutory language reaches far beyond ATM operators. By targeting "a virtual kiosk operator or other person" who "knowingly install[s] or allow[s] installation of, permit[s], place[s], or otherwise operate[s]" a virtual currency kiosk, the law pulls property owners, gas-station hosts, convenience-store operators, and landlords into the criminal liability ring.

Forfeiture

Hardware & Funds Disposition

HB 2505 amends multiple TCA titles, including Title 39 (Criminal Offenses) and Title 29 (Remedies and Special Proceedings). The published bill abstract does not surface a dedicated forfeiture clause, but the multi-title amendments warrant a careful read of the engrossed text before deploying or removing hardware. We will update this section when the engrossed bill text is reviewed.

Background

Legislative Background

HB 2505 moved through the legislature in roughly six weeks, passing both chambers unanimously on March 16, 2026 and receiving the governor's signature on April 23. The unanimous vote — across a Republican-led, business-friendly legislature — reflects how politically toxic Bitcoin ATMs have become after a wave of state AG enforcement.

Key facts cited during legislative hearings:

• FBI IC3 reported $333 million in Bitcoin ATM-related scam losses in 2025
• 86% of those losses came from victims aged 60 and over
• Tennessee follows enforcement actions in Massachusetts, Iowa, Connecticut, and Minnesota against major operators
• Indiana banned Bitcoin ATMs first via HEA 1116 (also effective July 1, 2026)

HB 2505 → Public Chapter 766

Read our coverage: Tennessee Criminalizes Bitcoin ATMs in Unanimous Vote — And Consumers Will Pay the Price

Kiosk status in Tennessee

Because Tennessee prohibits Bitcoin kiosks under the law summarized above, there are no operating limits or fee caps to describe; any machine still running in the state should be reported to the regulator.

Key dates

• Effective date of the kiosk provisions: 2026-07-01.
• Status recorded as of 2026-04-23.
• Enacted as: 2026 Tenn. Pub. Ch. 766.
• We last reviewed this summary against the official source on 2026-04-25.

How Tennessee compares

Tennessee is one of 4 jurisdictions in our dataset that prohibit Bitcoin kiosks (Indiana, Minnesota, Tennessee, Vermont). See every state side by side on the regulations overview.

Rules change at the state line. If you live near a border, the kiosk you use may be governed by a neighbor's law:

Federal rules that apply in Tennessee

State law sits on top of federal requirements that apply to every Bitcoin ATM operator in the United States, including in Tennessee:

• Money services business registration. Kiosk operators are money transmitters under the Bank Secrecy Act and must register with FinCEN.
• Anti-money-laundering program. Operators must run a written AML program with a compliance officer, training, and independent review.
• Reporting. Operators file Suspicious Activity Reports and Currency Transaction Reports for cash transactions over $10,000 in a day.
• Sanctions screening. Transactions involving sanctioned persons or wallets are prohibited under OFAC rules.

These federal duties explain why kiosks ask for a phone number, ID, or a selfie as amounts rise — identification tiers are how operators meet them.

Bitcoin ATM scam warnings

The biggest risk at a Bitcoin ATM is a scammer directing the payment. The same scripts appear in Tennessee as nationwide:

• Government or police impersonation — a caller says you owe a fine or your accounts are frozen and must be "protected" in Bitcoin.
• Tech-support and bank-fraud alerts — a pop-up or call claims your computer or bank account is compromised.
• Romance and investment schemes — an online contact steers you to "invest" or send help through a kiosk.
• Utility shut-off threats — a caller demands immediate payment to keep service on.

No government agency, utility, bank, or legitimate business asks to be paid through a Bitcoin ATM. If someone is on the phone telling you which buttons to press or gives you a QR code to scan, stop. Bitcoin transactions are generally irreversible once confirmed.