Creates a process for licensure and oversight by DBR over the practices and procedures of virtual currency kiosk operators to prevent fraud related to the use of virtual currency kiosks, by establishing daily transaction limits and the regulating of fees.
H5121 amends Rhode Island’s currency transmission laws to create a specific regulatory framework for virtual currency kiosk operators. The bill requires kiosk operators to be licensed as money transmitters, to register each kiosk with the Department of Business Regulation, and to obtain prior approval before activating kiosks in the state. It also expands statutory definitions to cover terms such as blockchain analytics, virtual currency kiosk, virtual currency wallet, transaction hash, and related concepts used in crypto transactions.
The bill imposes detailed consumer-protection and anti-fraud requirements on kiosk operators. These include prominent risk disclosures, multilingual disclosures, physical receipts with transaction details, live customer service hours, anti-fraud policies, a full-time compliance officer, and use of blockchain analytics software to help prevent transfers to wallets associated with fraud. It also sets daily transaction caps of $2,000 for new customers and $5,000 for existing customers, and requires refunds in certain fraud cases for new customers and fee refunds for existing customers.
The bill would add new sections to Chapter 19-14.3 of the Rhode Island General Laws and materially expand DBR oversight of virtual currency kiosk activity. It would regulate licensing, kiosk registration, reporting, disclosures, customer service, fraud prevention, refund obligations, and transaction limits, while also creating new compliance duties for operators and new consumer rights. Affected parties include virtual currency kiosk operators, money transmitters, consumers using crypto kiosks, and the Department of Business Regulation, which would gain approval and enforcement responsibilities.
The available voting history shows strong support for the bill, with House passage on April 10, 2025 by a vote of 67-0. The bill’s stated purpose is consumer protection and fraud prevention in the use of virtual currency kiosks, and the structure of the legislation reflects a regulatory rather than permissive approach to crypto kiosks. No committee transcript is available here, but the unanimous vote suggests broad agreement on the need for oversight.
The main policy tension in the bill is between consumer protection and the operational burden placed on virtual currency kiosk operators. Operators must absorb licensing, registration, reporting, disclosure, compliance officer, customer service, and blockchain analytics requirements, as well as transaction caps and refund obligations. The bill also raises questions about how effectively fraud can be prevented through mandatory analytics tools and whether the refund rules and daily limits are sufficient or too restrictive, but no recorded committee debate is available to show explicit opposition.