The Albuquerque City Council passed the Virtual Currency Ordinance, O-26-49, on Sept. 10.
Sponsored by Councilors Stephanie Telles and Tammy Fiebelkorn, it prohibits installing or operating virtual currency ATMs and self-service crypto kiosks open to the public. Property owners, landlords and retailers that host the machines face the same prohibition. Violators can face cumulative daily fines, business license revocation and court action by the city.
Existing machines must stop operating and be removed within 45 days of the ordinance taking effect.
The ordinance does not ban cryptocurrency itself: residents can still own, mine and privately transfer it through online exchanges and personal wallets. The council’s summary cites FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center data on kiosk fraud losses nationwide.