Washington State Orders Coinme to Cease Operations and Refund Customers

According to ChainCatcher, Washington state regulators have ordered Bitcoin ATM operator Coinme to halt its operations and return over $8 million in unclaimed funds to customers. The company is accused of treating unredeemed vouchers as revenue, violating money transmission regulations. The Washington State Department of Financial Institutions (DFI) issued a temporary cease-and-desist order and statement of charges, stating that Coinme's cryptocurrency purchase voucher system breached the state's Uniform Money Services Act. Between January 2023 and December 2024, Coinme allegedly accounted for $8.37 million in unredeemed customer vouchers as company revenue. Regulators are seeking to revoke Coinme's money transmission license, impose a $300,000 fine plus a $375 investigation fee, and ban the company and its CEO, Neil Bergquist, from participating in any money transmission business for ten years. Coinme has 20 days to request a hearing, or the temporary order will become permanent.