Consumer Finance Protection in Maine has made a great leap forward this week. The state office has managed to reach an agreement with a cryptocurrency operator to recover money taken from scammed victims.
A press release put out by the Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection in Maine has noted that it is entering into a consent agreement with Bitcoin Depot, the operator of several Bitcoin kiosks. The issue is related to a widespread third-party scam that saw $1.9 million taken from citizens in the state. The $1.9 million will now be placed into a fund managed by the Maine Attorney General. Residents who lost money in the scam now have the chance to reclaim their money using a form on the state’s website.
These scams intensified in 2025 as the price of Bitcoin rocketed. This was due to a range of factors, including a more crypto-friendly administration in the United States and widespread adoption by corporations and traditional financial institutions. In October, Bitcoin reached a record high before macroeconomic worries turned into a lessening appetite. Binance noted that globally, this may have been down to Bank of Japan rate hike fears, along with tepid tones from other central banks. These combined domestically with a dense U.S. data slate and the end of corporate buybacks. This has led to the Bitcoin price live moving to $91,070.24 as of January 20th, 2026.
Last June, as many states raced to build cryptocurrency reserves, Maine looked to tighten up its laws regarding digital assets for consumers. Governor Janet Mills introduced legislation that capped fees, exchange rates, and limited daily amounts at virtual currency kiosks. It also introduced redress schemes for customers. This was part of a wider update of consumer protection, which also included the Maine Money Transmission Modernization Act.
Bitcoin Depot must now also comply with all consumer protection laws used by money transmitters. This means they must also adhere to specific rules on unhosted wallets. These are wallets not overseen by a third-party financial system, in which the user has the keys and full access to their cryptocurrency. By implementing this, it will make it harder for fraudsters to take control of a victim’s funds.
The Bitcoin Depot Case
The case began way back in 2023. Several kiosks across the state were alleged to have been “instrumentalities of massive fraud,” according to state regulators. They specifically targeted vulnerable customers, most notably the elderly. Bitcoin Depot argued against this, resulting in a two-year-long court case. Its defence hinged on the fact that it displays on-screen warnings and fraud alerts.
Prosecutors believed that Bitcoin Depot knew about these events and failed to act. This was because they were aware of the high levels of income derived from their machines. In addition to letting these criminal activities continue, the court case also heard how Bitcoin Depot misled consumers with inflated exchange rates and high transaction fees. In some cases, this led to a deduction that totalled around 23%.
Virtual Currency Kiosks Across the US
Maine is not the only location to regulate virtual currency kiosks. Detroit has also passed legislation to do so, with new licensing and operational regulations. Police Captain Colleen Hopper noted that in Sterling Heights alone, residents had lost $559,400 in scams related to the machines. They followed the municipalities of Grosse Pointe Farms and Harper Woods in doing so.
Maine has had some major issues with virtual currency kiosks. These primarily involved people impersonating government officials and tech support, who would coerce others into using virtual currency kiosks. The result was the emergency legislation signed in June 2025. Local authorities noted that they were “grateful that our Bureau of Consumer Credit Protection secured this agreement that will put money back into the pockets of Maine people who were defrauded by predatory third-party scammers.”
All of these changes point to increased regulation across the US regarding the use of digital currencies and their application. While this has generally been positive for Bitcoin and other crypto prices, Binance noted that it can also hold it back. They stated that the long-awaited CLARITY Act hearing had been pushed to early 2026, undermining near-term expectations for market-structure clarity and slowing the path for larger institutional inflows.
Despite this, there are positive signs for Bitcoin in 2026. Binance also noted that the Fed is scheduled to stop quantitative tightening on 1 December and is widely expected to start growing its balance sheet again from January. It will do this by buying roughly 20 to 25 billion dollars in T-bills per month, a QE-lite that injects fresh liquidity and historically has supported strong risk asset rallies. This obviously includes Bitcoin, arguably the most riskiest of all assets. With an increased regulatory framework in the US and more people accessing cryptocurrency, it is a strong long-term signal.
Maine Reaches Agreement to Recover Bitcoin Lost in Fraud first appeared on Web and IT News.
