CITY of ALBUQUERQUE
TWENTY SEVENTH COUNCIL
COUNCIL BILL NO. O-26-49 ENACTMENT NO. ______________
SPONSORED BY: Stephanie W. Telles, Tammy Fiebelkorn
ORDINANCE
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Creating The “Virtual Currency Ordinance;” Prohibiting Virtual Currency Automatic Teller Machines And Cashier-Facilitated Virtual Currency Transactions In The City Of Albuquerque (Telles, Fiebelkorn)
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WHEREAS, Virtual Currency Kiosks or Virtual Currency Automatic Teller Machines (“Virtual Currency ATMs”) allow individuals to purchase and send a variety of Virtual Currency, including, but not limited to Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Dash, LiteCoin, Ripple, ZCash, Ethereum, and other blockchain-based tokens; and
WHEREAS, Virtual Currency ATMs have been deployed nationwide with the rise in popularity and usage of Virtual Currency; and
WHEREAS, Virtual Currency transactions allow for anonymity between transacting parties and have little oversight, making them desirable for facilitating criminal enterprise; and
WHEREAS, Virtual Currency and Virtual Currency ATMs are increasingly used to facilitate criminal enterprises, including fraud schemes that target vulnerable populations; and
WHEREAS, use of Virtual Currency ATMs in fraud or other criminal enterprises have been identified in different states and municipalities; and
WHEREAS, other states and municipalities have taken steps to ban, prohibit, or otherwise restrict the presence and use of Virtual Currency ATMs to protect their residents from potential fraud, exploitation, and financial harm; and
WHEREAS, the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has documented a rapid and sustained increase in fraud facilitated through virtual currency kiosks, resulting in hundreds of millions of dollars in reported consumer losses nationwide, with older adults suffering a disproportionate share of those losses; and
WHEREAS, federal law enforcement and financial regulators have reported that criminals increasingly direct victims to transmit funds through virtual currency kiosks as a preferred payment method because transactions are fast, difficult to interrupt in real time, and irreversible once completed; and
WHEREAS, investigations and enforcement actions by state attorneys general have found that virtual currency kiosks are routinely used to facilitate impersonation scams, coercive payment schemes, and other deceptive practices that cause significant consumer harm; and
WHEREAS, as a home rule municipality, the City of Albuquerque possesses the power to provide for the safety, health, and welfare of the municipality and its inhabitants; and
WHEREAS, the City Council finds that prohibiting Virtual Currency ATMs within the City is a reasonable measure to reduce opportunities for fraud, exploitation, and financial harm while preserving the ability of residents to engage in lawful Virtual Currency transfers by other means; and
WHEREAS, the City of Albuquerque desires to protect itself and its inhabitants from the kind of criminal enterprises facilitated and enabled by Virtual Currency ATMs.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL, THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE:
SECTION 1. A new Article 22 of Chapter 13, being §§ 13-22-1 to -99, is hereby created in the Revised Ordinances of Albuquerque, 1994, as follows
§ 13-22-1. SHORT TITLE.
This Chapter shall be known and cited as the “Virtual Currency Ordinance.”
§ 13-22-2. SCOPE AND PURPOSE, AUTHORITY.
(A) Scope and Purpose. Virtual Currency ATMs are frequently used by criminals to manipulate, intimidate, or deceive victims into converting fiat currency into Virtual Currency through transactions that are rapid, difficult to reverse, and often impossible to recover once completed. Virtual Currency Kiosks facilitate fraud schemes that disproportionately affect older adults and other vulnerable populations, resulting in substantial financial losses.
This Ordinance prohibits the installation, operation, hosting, facilitation, and use of Virtual Currency ATMs within the City of Albuquerque in order to protect its inhabitants from fraud, financial exploitation, and other criminal activity and to preserve public health, safety, peace, welfare and preserve order.
(B) Authority. This Ordinance is a proper exercise of municipal legislative powers pursuant to Article X, Section 6 of the New Mexico Constitution, NMSA 1978, Sections 3-17-1 to -7; and NMSA 1978, Sections 3-18-1 to -32.
§ 13-22-3. DEFINITIONS.
VIRTUAL CURRENCY. A digital representation of value used as a medium of exchange, a unit of account, or a store of value, but does not have legal tender status as recognized by the United States Government, including but not limited to Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, Dash, LiteCoin, Ripple, ZCash, Ethereum, and other blockchain-based tokens.
VIRTUAL CURRENCY AUTOMATIC TELLER MACHINE or VIRTUAL CURRENCY ATM. Any self-service kiosk, machine, device, automated teller machine, electronic terminal, or similar apparatus located in an area accessible to the general public that enables users to buy, sell, exchange or transfer, send, receive, or otherwise transact in Virtual Currency for cash, debit card, credit card, electronic payment, or other monetary value or other Virtual Currency.
CASHIER-FACILITATED VIRTUAL CURRENCY TRANSACTION. A transaction involving the purchase, sale, exchange, transfer, or transmission of Virtual Currency in which payment is collected in person by a cashier, clerk, employee, agent, intermediary, retailer, or process acting on behalf of a Virtual Currency provider, regardless of whether the transaction is initiated though a kiosk, mobile application, website, point-of-sale system, or other electronic platform.
OPERATOR. Any person or entity that owns, controls, manages, installs, leases, supplies, or operates a Virtual Currency ATM or engages in Virtual Currency ATM or cashier-facilitated Virtual Currency transaction.
HOST. Any person or entity that owns, leases, manages, operates, controls, or otherwise permits the use of a physical location where a Virtual Currency ATM is installed or made available to the public.
§ 13-22-4. VIRTUAL CURRENCY ATMS PROHIBITED.
(A) No person or entity shall install, host, allow, operate, facilitate, permit, locate, place, service, lease, advertise, or make available a Virtual Currency ATM within the City of Albuquerque.
(B) No person or entity shall conduct, facilitate, host, permit, or offer a Cashier-Facilitated Virtual Currency Transaction within the City of Albuquerque.
(C) No property owner, landlord, tenant, retailer, business operator, or Host shall permit a Virtual Currency ATM or Cashier-Facilitated Virtual Currency Transaction to occur on property owned, leased, occupied, or controlled by that person or entity.
(D) This prohibition applies regardless of:
(1) Whether the Virtual Currency ATM is owned, leased, operated, serviced, or maintained by a third party;
(2) Whether the transaction is custodial or non-custodial;
(3) Whether the transaction is completed on-site or remotely;
(4) Whether the transaction involves Bitcoin, Ethereum, stablecoins, or any other form of Virtual Currency or digital asset.
(E) All Virtual Currency ATMs existing within the City of Albuquerque as of the Effective Date of this Ordinance shall cease operation immediately. All Virtual Currency ATMs within the City of Albuquerque shall be removed no later than forty-five (45) days after the Effective Date of this Ordinance.
§ 13-22-5. PERMITTED VIRTUAL CURRENCY TRANSFERS.
Nothing in this Ordinance shall be construed to prohibit or regulate lawful Virtual Currency ownership, possession, mining, software development, blockchain activities, or Virtual Currency transfers that are conducted privately between individuals or through internet-based platforms not involving a Virtual Currency ATM or Cashier-Facilitated Virtual Currency Transaction within the City of Albuquerque.
§ 13-22-99. PENALTY.
(A) Any person or entity who violates any provision of this Ordinance may be subject to the imposition of the maximum fine or penalty as provided in ROA 1994, Section 1-1-9.
(B) Fines or penalties assessed against a person or entity found in violation of any provision of this Ordinance are cumulative and each day that such person or entity violates any provision of this Ordinance constitutes a separate offense.
(C) Subject to the procedural safeguards of the Business License Ordinance, the City of Albuquerque may revoke the business license of any person or entity permitting the activity prohibited by this Ordinance.
(D) The City may seek injunctive relief in any court of competent jurisdiction to enforce the provisions of this Ordinance and compel removal of any prohibited Virtual Currency ATM.
(E) Each prohibited Virtual Currency ATM shall constitute a separate violation.
(F) Enforcement actions may be brought against both the Operator and the Host responsible for permitting prohibited activity under this Ordinance.
SECTION 2. SEVERABILITY. If any section, paragraph, sentence, clause, word or phrase of this Ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unenforceable by any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of this Ordinance. The Council hereby declares that it would have passed this Ordinance and each section, paragraph, sentence, clause, word or phrase thereof irrespective of any provision being declared unconstitutional or otherwise invalid.
SECTION 3. COMPILATION. SECTION 1 of this Ordinance is to be compiled as a new Article 22 in Chapter 13, being §§ §§ 13-22-1 to -99, of the Revised Ordinances of Albuquerque, New Mexico, 1994, titled “Virtual Currency Ordinance.”
SECTION 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Ordinance takes effect five days after publication by title and general summary.