The Pennsylvania Senate Communications and Technology Committee, chaired by Senator Tracy Pennycuick, and the Senate Banking and Insurance Committee held a joint hearing on Apr. 8 to discuss consumer protections for virtual currency and kiosks across the state.
The hearing addressed the rapid growth of cryptocurrency kiosks in Pennsylvania, which are increasingly found in retail locations such as gas stations and grocery stores. The focus was on Senate Bill 1015, introduced by Pennycuick, which aims to establish guidelines for operators of these kiosks to enhance transparency and safeguard consumers.
“While this is an important innovation in financial technology, their unregulated expansion poses risks, particularly to seniors and vulnerable consumers who are often targeted by scams involving cryptocurrency transactions,” Pennycuick said. “My proposed legislation would establish clear guidelines for kiosk operators to ensure transparency, accountability, and protection of the consumer,” she added.
Under the bill’s provisions, operators would be required to disclose risks associated with cryptocurrency transactions, provide anti-fraud warnings before any transaction occurs, maintain anti-fraud policies, report kiosk locations statewide, issue receipts for all transactions, offer round-the-clock customer service support, use blockchain analytics software to detect fraudulent activity, designate compliance officers responsible for consumer protection measures under law, and obtain a money transmitter license from the Commonwealth. Customers would also need to confirm that funds used belong to them directly.
Testimony during the hearing included input from virtual currency kiosk companies who described existing fraud prevention measures within their operations while supporting licensing requirements. They indicated that most scams originate from smaller or less established start-ups rather than larger companies. The Pennsylvania Attorney General’s office expressed support for the legislation as well as recommendations such as placing large signs at kiosks about fraud awareness and requiring users’ state-issued identification cards.
Recent data show that Americans lost over $15.9 billion due to virtual currency scams in 2025; more than $12 million was reported lost by Pennsylvanians through over 90 complaints filed with the Attorney General’s office last year.
Pennycuick has engaged in public service through her military career and roles on veteran boards according to the official website (https://senatorpennycuick.com/about/). She served 26 years in the U.S. Army including active duty during Desert Shield/Desert Storm before retiring as a lieutenant colonel according to her official biography (https://senatorpennycuick.com/about/). Pennycuick resides with her husband—also an Army veteran—in Harleysville along with their family according to information provided online (https://senatorpennycuick.com/about/). She was elected to the Pennsylvania Senate in 2022 after serving previously in the General Assembly according to her official biography (https://senatorpennycuick.com/about/). Pennycuick earned a Bachelor of Science degree from University of Missouri-Columbia in 1987 (https://senatorpennycuick.com/about/) after beginning her military career as a combat medic prior pursuing higher education there (https://senatorpennycuick.com/about/).
Testifiers at Monday’s hearing included John O’Connell from Pennsylvania Blockchain Coalition; Christopher Edwards from Bitcoin Depot; Jon Turke from CoinFlip; Paul Edger representing Bureau of Consumer Protection at Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General; and AARP Pennsylvania.
