Hundreds of California ATMs closing as regulations strangle operator

A Bitcoin ATM giant that once flooded the nation with machines has filed for bankruptcy after strict state regulations — including in California — kneecapped its business model.

Bitcoin Depot voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Southern District of Texas and will begin winding down operations and selling off its assets, according to The Sun.

The Atlanta-based fintech company operated roughly 9,700 Bitcoin ATMs nationwide, mostly in convenience stores and gas stations.

But its California footprint shrunk to fewer than 200 kiosks, according to the company’s Q2 2025 earnings call — a stunning retreat for a company that was once California’s largest Bitcoin ATM operator and installed 200 machines in the state in 2020 alone, according to company materials.

The culprit, at least in the Golden State market, was California’s SB401 — which capped Bitcoin ATM purchases to $1,000 per day, limiting the company’s expansion.

Bitcoin Depot warned customers on its website that California “stands out as the only state having a $1,000 daily Bitcoin ATM purchase limit,” while pointing users who wanted to buy more than $1,000 in a day toward its BDCheckout and online purchase options.

The damage was already showing up in the company’s books last year.

In its third-quarter 2024 earnings report, Bitcoin Depot said revenue fell 25% year over year to $135.3 million, down from $179.5 million. The company said the decline was “largely driven” by unfavorable California legislation that took effect in January 2024, along with its ongoing effort to move underperforming kiosks to better locations.

The company still posted $2.3 million in net income for the quarter and ended September 2024 with 8,300 machines, according to the earnings report.

It even said at the time that it planned to begin paying dividends to common shareholders in 2025.

But the regulatory vice kept tightening.

Bitcoin Depot CEO Alex Holmes said the company had strengthened fraud protections over time, but that Bitcoin ATM operators were facing increasingly strict state rules, including transaction limits and outright bans in some jurisdictions, according to The Sun.

“Under these circumstances, the company’s current business model is unsustainable,” Holmes said, according to that outlet.

Bitcoin Depot listed between $10 and $50 million in both assets and liabilities in its bankruptcy filings.

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