Lincoln Requires Police Warnings on Crypto and Bitcoin ATMs

Show description: Lincoln, Nebraska added Chapter 9.70 to the city code requiring a standardized Lincoln Police Department warning to be posted at the point of transaction on every crypto and Bitcoin ATM within city limits. The ordinance responds to reported losses exceeding $11,000,000 in the first eleven months of 2025. The rule defines crypto and Bitcoin ATMs and assigns shared responsibility to host businesses and device operators to display the notice where plainly seen during transactions and not obscured. The City Council passed the ordinance unanimously in November 2025 and set a compliance deadline of December 24, 2025. City staff will verify notice presence and legibility during routine checks and will enforce missing or obscured labels consistent with municipal code practices. The Lincoln Police Department and AARP Nebraska are conducting an education and labeling campaign, and volunteers and LPD staff began placing standardized warning stickers on kiosks across the city in December 2025. The LPD guidance lists common scam scripts including imposter schemes claiming overdue taxes, frozen bank accounts, or emergencies involving relatives and instructs consumers that no government agency, bank, or legitimate business requests payment in cryptocurrency or gift cards. LPD’s Technical Investigations Unit currently includes one sergeant and four investigators focused on tracing funds, preserving surveillance and ATM logs, and coordinating with platforms and exchanges, and an additional investigator will join in January 2026. Operators must also comply with Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance oversight and with the Controllable Electronic Record Fraud Prevention Act (LB609), effective September 2025, which added disclosures, transaction limits, holds, and defined refund rights in covered cases. Operators and hosts are instructed to inventory all Lincoln machines, obtain the official LPD written warning, post it on every machine by December 24, 2025, train field technicians and store staff to maintain visible and legible warnings, implement periodic audits with photo verification and maintenance logs, and retain records of inspections and installations. Consumers are directed to stop transactions if pressured to pay in crypto, verify requests with trusted sources before sending funds, and report suspected fraud to local police, the FBI, the FTC, and the National Elder Fraud Hotline. The ordinance does not ban crypto ATMs; machines may continue to operate if they meet the city posting requirement and applicable state rules. City officials expect continued municipal scrutiny as investigative capacity and outreach expand and expect state-level rules like LB609 to influence refund and reporting processes. 

Source: https://web3businessnews.com/policy/lincoln-crypto-atm-warnings/

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