A Miami company that owns three cryptocurrency ATMs in Stillwater is asking the city to repeal an ordinance banning the machines.

Officials from Athena Bitcoin, which operates more than 3,500 cryptocurrency ATMs across 35 states, say the city’s new ordinance banning crypto ATMs violates state law. The ordinance, which had its second reading and was adopted by the Stillwater City Council on Tuesday night, will go into effect as soon as it is published in the Stillwater Gazette later this month.

Company officials say the ordinance is “preempted” under state law. The ordinance bans an activity that Minnesota law expressly permits, and the state already regulates crypto ATMs, they say.

The company owns crypto ATMS at the BP gas station at 1750 Greeley St. S., the Amoco station at 103 Main St. N., and at Haskell’s at 2225 Curve Crest Blvd.

Since Jan. 1, 2023, Stillwater police have taken more than 30 crypto-related scam reports from residents totaling almost $213,000, with at least half of that amount having been deposited into cryptocurrency ATMs located in the city. In October, police received a report that a 75-year-old woman was feeding $20 bills — one after the other — into the Athena Bitcoin ATM at the Amoco station. By the time police arrived, the woman had deposited $5,820 into the machine and was planning on depositing another $14,180 she had in cash.

“While state laws attempt to regulate the crypto currency business itself by requiring certain messaging at kiosks, scammers have found ways around the laws and continue to induce victims into feeding significant amounts of money into the kiosks,” City Attorney Korine Land wrote in a April 15 memo to the council.

All transactions conducted at cryptocurrency ATMs are accompanied by high percentage-based fees, sometimes 20 to 30 percent, Land wrote.

“Frequently, the hosting business (where the kiosk is located) also receives a percentage of this markup. When you consider the high volume of scam transactions being performed at kiosks, coupled with the excessive fees that are being charged at the kiosks, both the operator and the host are profiting from the victims.”

Athena Bitcoin “regularly works with law enforcement agencies and is genuinely committed to fighting financial crimes, especially those targeting the elderly population,” Robert Musiala, an attorney representing Athena Bitcoin, wrote in an April 14 letter to Land.

“Athena Bitcoin would like to work with the city of Stillwater to address the problem of scams involving (Virtual Currency) Kiosks. However, the Ordinance banning VC Kiosks is not the solution,” he wrote.

He said the company looked forward to working with Stillwater on solutions “that respect Athena Bitcoin’s right to operate its business under Minnesota state law.”

Forest Lake ordinance

Rather than banning cryptocurrency ATMs, Forest Lake officials are moving forward with a plan that would require that all cryptocurrency ATMs located within the city be registered.

The proposed ordinance would require owners of businesses where cryptocurrency ATMs are located to register each machine with the city; complete an application; pay a $2,000 fee, and provide written confirmation from the Forest Lake Police Department that the ATM operator had no more than two instances of substantiated fraud within the city in the past six months, according to the proposed ordinance.

Related Articles

HealthPartners opens new specialty center in Woodbury

Jackpot winner steps forward for $1 million lottery ticket sold in Woodbury

Oak Park Heights state of emergency declared to deal with water main break

Lake Elmo assistant principal injured in fight between students

Long-awaited Tanners Lake development plan in Oakdale includes apartments, townhomes

They also must post a city-provided sign warning of the danger for fraud and scams; install a dedicated, closed-circuit camera; agree to provide video footage to the police department within 48 hours of request, and pass compliance checks. In addition, if a business has had a previous registration denied, suspended or revoked, the owner of the business may not apply for a new registration for two years.

The goal of the ordinance is to balance the protection of the community without instituting a ban on the cryptocurrency ATMs, City Attorney Amanda Johnson told the Pioneer Press earlier this month. “If you are not doing something that’s harming the people who live or work or play in Forest Lake, then you get to continue,” she said.

In a first for nationwide customers of Philadelphia-based Comcast, its Xfinity broadband Internet service is now available with a five-year price guarantee starting at $55 a month.

No annual contract is required, so there’s no obligation and customers can cancel anytime.

Those who forgo the price guarantee can pay as little as $40 a month going in, but they are vulnerable to price hikes in the years that follow.

Regardless, those who sign up get a free year of Xfinity Mobile cellular service.

Broadband service tiers extend to $70, $85 and $105 a month with downloads topping 1.3 gigabits per second.

Xfinity is one of the Twin Cities metro’s largest Internet providers and has been expanding outstate at a rapid clip.

Quantum Fiber, a top competitor, offers a price for life guarantee that covers basic Internet fees in perpetuity but might charge for equipment and other ancillary fees.

Related Articles

Athena Bitcoin asks Stillwater to repeal cryptocurrency ATM ban

OpenAI picks labor icon Dolores Huerta and other philanthropy advisers as it moves toward for-profit

Spotify says it’s back after an hourslong outage disrupts thousands of users

US moves ahead on tariffs with investigations into computer chips, pharmaceuticals

Confusion reigns after Trump exempts electronics from new tariff regime. Here’s what we know

A St. Paul man has been sentenced to 24 years in federal prison for paying a woman in the Philippines to produce child sexual abuse material for him over the course of four years.

Jason Miller Speed (Courtesy of the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office)

Jason Miller Speed, 42, carried out an online relationship with the woman, who in exchange for money from him produced child sexual abuse material of two girls from January 2020 through February 2024, court documents filed in U.S. District Court of Minnesota say.

Speed was aware the victims were minors, according to prosecutors.

Authorities in the Philippines, through cooperation with the FBI’s International Operations division, were able to rescue the two victims.

Speed pleaded guilty in October to one count of aiding and abetting production of child pornography. His sentence, handed down Monday by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey Bryan in St. Paul, includes 15 years of supervised release following incarceration.

“Child predators are conniving, creative and profoundly dangerous,” Acting U.S. Attorney Lisa Kirkpatrick said in a Wednesday statement. “Speed lived in our community and lurked in the dark corners of the internet. From his perch in St. Paul, Speed victimized little children halfway around the world.”

Related Articles

Family says ICE agents smashed car window in seizing Guatemalan man who’s seeking asylum

The Oklahoma City bombing was 30 years ago. Some survivors worry America didn’t learn the lesson

Charges: Hopkins man threatened to ‘shoot up’ UnitedHealthcare headquarters in Minnetonka

Millions in merchandise taken by burglars who tunneled through concrete into LA jewelry store

Marshall man claims that ICE detained him for protests over police killings

When Mickey Gasper pinch hit for Willi Castro in the eighth inning of Wednesday’s game against the New York Mets, it raised all kinds of questions.

Among them, why was manager Rocco Baldelli pinch-hitting the rookie, a switch hitter, for Castro, an all-star last year, also a switch hitter? And how would they manage defensively with Castro out of the game?

One answer quickly became apparent in the top of the ninth when shortstop Carlos Correa emerged from the dugout and trotted out to his usual position. It was a promising sign after Correa had left Tuesday’s game early with left wrist soreness after tweaking it during the game.

Correa, who said his wrist was feeling better, was available to play defense, though they didn’t necessarily want him to hit had the game been extended.

“We were going back and forth on what I was going to do if the at-bat came up,” Correa said. “I’m glad it never got there.”

But while the Twins got some positive news on their shortstop, the rest of the injury news wasn’t quite as good. Castro was removed with what Baldelli described as “mild right oblique tightness.” Taking him out of the game, Baldelli said, was precautionary.

The Twins have an off day on Thursday before beginning a three-game series in Atlanta, which will be an important day for a suddenly banged-up roster.

“We’re going to take the day, see how he’s doing (Thursday) before we make any sort of assessments,” Baldelli said of Castro. “I’m not sitting here really nervous right now.”

Castro said he felt a little pinch during an at-bat, and while he thought he could play through it, he didn’t want it to get any worse. As for avoiding the injured list, he’s hopeful, but not sure yet.

Losing Castro would be a blow for the Twins, who now know they will be without their right fielder, Matt Wallner, for the time being. Wallner will be placed on the 10-day injured list after straining his left hamstring running to first base in Tuesday’s game.

“I had a pretty good idea when I woke up that it wasn’t going to heal any time soon,” Wallner said.

Scary moment for Wendelstedt

Wednesday’s game had a short pause after first base umpire Hunter Wendelstedt was hit in the head by a hard-line drive in the seventh inning off the bat of Mets center fielder Tyrone Taylor and dropped to the ground immediately.

He was examined by two Twins trainers and a team doctor before getting up and walking off the field under his own power, holding a towel to his head. He was then taken to a local hospital for further care.

“Hopefully it’s just some stitches is what I’m thinking,” crew chief Todd Tichenor told a pool reporter. “He was coherent, speaking. He had everything, concussion protocol. It was great to hear him speaking. That’s really all I’ve got right now.”

López throws ‘pen

Pablo López had a suitcase packed sitting in his locker area on Wednesday morning. He was awaiting word from the team training staff on whether or not he would be traveling to Atlanta with them.

López, on the injured list with a hamstring strain, threw a bullpen on Wednesday. He estimated he threw around 33 pitches.

“I threw 19, then took a little breather, just simulating sitting down and picking back up to see how the hamstring reacted,” he said. “It was good.”

The next step, he said, would likely be getting in a rehab game, although it’s possible he travels with the team to Atlanta and throws another bullpen before that.

López, who was placed on the 15-day injured list retroactive to April 9, would be eligible to return next week.