Kennewick residents and visitors who hold cryptocurrency assets will have to be happy accessing those financial resources via their own computers and digital devices.

The Kennewick City Council unanimously approved an ordinance in late April to ban kiosks that allow individuals to buy and trade various cryptocurrencies. City police pushed for the ordinance, saying they were seeing increasing cases of individuals being defrauded by scammers using the kiosks to receive funds.

The council postponed a vote on the ordinance in March, with one councilman saying he had reservations about limiting residents’ access to cryptocurrency. But council members had little to say about it before passing it when it was most recently considered.

“I appreciate the work that’s gone into this. This was not something I knew was a major concern,” said Mayor Jason McShane shortly before the vote. “I’m very happy to see this come forward.”

Police have documented 16 crypto kiosks within city limits, half of them in convenience stores and the remainder in grocery stores and other retail locations such as Target and at the Columbia Center mall.

Kennewick police have investigated nearly 40 cases of scams involving cryptocurrency kiosks since 2023, with total losses estimated at $923,771.

The biggest individual losses involve those over the age of 60, with one victim losing $140,000 in 2025, and a 78-year-old being scammed out of $100,000 this year.

According to law enforcement, scammers convince victims to deposit cash into untraceable cryptocurrency wallets in the kiosks either by impersonating loved ones or others, such as government entities.

Ownership of those wallets and transactions involving them are anonymous, making recovery of funds near impossible. The machines themselves also charge transaction fees between 15% and 25%, increasing victims’ losses.

The companies that own and operate the machines have refused to cooperate in investigations and threatened legal action if machines are seized as evidence, police officials told the council.

Under the ordinance, no new cryptocurrency kiosks may be installed within city limits and any currently located in the city must be removed in the next six months.