Bitcoin Depot (NASDAQ: BTM ), once the largest Bitcoin ATM operator in North America, filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of Texas on Monday. The Atlanta-based fintech company said it intends to wind down all operations and pursue a sale of its assets — marking one of the most visible collapses in the retail cryptocurrency sector to date.
The company’s stock cratered on the news, falling from $3 to around $0.75 on the news.
As part of the filing, Bitcoin Depot took its entire network of Bitcoin ATM kiosks offline. The company operated over 9,000 kiosk locations worldwide as of August 2025, with machines in 47 states and a cash-to-bitcoin checkout product available at retail locations in 31 states.
CEO Alex Holmes cited a hostile shift in the regulatory environment as the force behind the company’s collapse. “The regulatory environment for BTM operators has changed significantly: States have imposed increasingly stringent compliance obligations, including new transaction limits and, in some jurisdictions, outright restrictions or bans on BTM operations,” said Holmes. “Under these circumstances, the company’s current business model is unsustainable.”
Indiana became the first state to ban Bitcoin ATM kiosks in March 2026, with Tennessee and Minnesota following. Connecticut suspended Bitcoin Depot’s operating license that same month.
The wave of regulation reflected a broader crackdown on crypto-ATMs linked to escalating fraud concerns — the FBI recorded 13,460 crypto-kiosk fraud complaints in 2025 alone, with reported losses of $389 million, a 58% jump from the previous year.
Financial deterioration preceded the filing
The bankruptcy did not come without warning. On May 12, Bitcoin Depot filed a late filing notice with the SEC, disclosing that it was unable to file its Q1 2026 Form 10-Q on time due to a material weakness in its cash-in-transit reconciliation process. That disclosure also included a “going concern” warning – a formal signal that management had doubts about the company’s ability to survive the next 12 months.
Preliminary results for Q1 2026 told a harsh story. Revenue fell $80.7 million year-over-year — down 49.2% — to about $83.5 million for the quarter ending March 31, 2026. Gross profit collapsed 85.5%, falling from $31.2 million to $4.5 million, and the company swung to a net loss of $2 million in the same period, on $2 million in the same period, on $9 million in the same period. Total operating expenses increased by 32.3%, driven by litigation costs, and the company had accumulated over $20 million in legal judgments during Q4 2025. Liquidity reserve decreased from $65.6 million at the end of 2025 to $44.0 million as of March 31.
Bitcoin Depot’s Legal Battles
In addition to state-level restrictions, Bitcoin Depot faced active lawsuits from law enforcement agencies in several states.
In February 2026, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell filed suit against the company, alleging that it facilitated cryptocurrency fraud targeting consumers. Iowa’s attorney general made similar allegations, claiming that Bitcoin Depot’s pricing was deceptive, that the company allowed known fraudulent transactions to continue, and that its refund policies exploited victims.
“I also want to thank our employees around the globe for their continued hard work and dedication,” said Holmes. Bitcoin Depot’s collapse stands as a cautionary benchmark for the crypto ATM industry — a sector that saw rapid expansion during the bitcoin adoption wave of the early 2020s, only to face a wall of regulatory and legal resistance it couldn’t overcome.