It's Friday! CitySpace is hosting a live edition of the long-running “Mortified” show tonight. WBUR's Morning Edition chatted with the co-producers for a preview of the always-funny, always-embarrassing show here. But first, the news: Coin con: The Massachusetts Senate moved yesterday to ban so-called crypto ATMs, amid concerns the unregulated kiosks are rampantly used for scams. In the last year alone, the FBI reported people had lost $389 million to such scams, including nearly $7 million at kiosks in Massachusetts, as The Boston Globe reported earlier this week. Right now, the state has no specific rules governing the kiosks — leading local sheriffs and consumer advocates to call for at least a temporary ban. “A ban on crypto ATMs is now the most effective way to stop the ongoing damage,” Jen Benson, the state director of AARP Massachusetts, said in a statement yesterday. - How do they work? Hundreds of crypto kiosks — which look just like an ATM — exist across Massachusetts in places like convenience stores, liquor stores and drug stores. Norfolk County Sheriff Patrick McDermott says scammers often call or text people, urging them to convert their money into a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin. (The Globe has a helpful reconstruction of the scam here .) "People are getting walked right to the kiosk itself with the scammer on the phone," McDermott told WBUR's Dan Guzman. "They deposit their cash. They usually are sent a QR code from the scammer. Once that QR code is inputted on the kiosk, that money is then converted to the cryptocurrency, and it is immediately sent off to a digital wallet somewhere — God only knows where it is."
- By the numbers: According to FBI data, there were 296 complaints about scams involving crypto kiosks in Massachusetts in 2025 — with $6,834,561 in reported losses. That's nearly 19,000 each day.
- The state of regulation: Four other states — Vermont, Minnesota, Indiana and Tennessee — have banned crypto kiosks altogether. Meanwhile, another 28 have some sort of restrictions on them. Massachusetts is the only New England state where the kiosks are unregulated.
- Why a ban? Supporters acknowledge cryptocurrency is a complicated industry to regulate. McDermott says they should stop the bleeding. " We think Massachusetts has become a central location for an unregulated market," he said. "And therefore, at the time being, we can't really do anything shy of shutting these things down immediately, until regulation gets put in place."
- What lawmakers are doing: The Senate added an amendment to its sweeping economic development bill passed last night to effectively ban the kiosks. Similar amendments were considered by the House during debate over its version of the bill, as well as the chamber's earlier budget proposal, but neither made the final cut. "We hope the language will be included in the final bill after [negotiations] between the branches," AARP spokesperson Molly Kleinstein told me.
You can read more about the wide-ranging Senate economic development bill passed late last night, which also included much of the "fun agenda," here. In other local politics news: Former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is lending a hand to an old State House colleague — who current Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is trying to oust. Walsh announced this morning that he's endorsing state Sen. Will Brownsberger for reelection. Brownsberger faces a Wu-backed challenger after helping to block the mayor's property tax shift proposal. - Walsh, who served in the House with Brownsberger before he was elected mayor, called the now-senator the "kind of partner you want in office." "He does not chase attention. He shows up, does the work, and delivers results for the people he represents," Walsh said in a statement.
Meanwhile: The leader of the Massachusetts Democratic Party is temporarily without a driver's license, after being charged with drunk driving last month. Southborough police arrested state party chair Steve Kerrigan on June 13 after an officer said they saw him driving in the middle of two lanes. His blood alcohol level tested at 0.089. The Boston Globe has more details on the arrest here. Kerrigan's license is suspended through the end of this month. A bridge to show you: State officials have released renderings of the planned Sagamore Bridge replacement. As the Globe reported yesterday, the renderings show plans for a wider, longer and less steep bridge that will also include a barrier-protected pathway for pedestrians and cyclists and a sunset lookout. Similar renderings also appeared in a 2024 MassDOT presentation. Sounds like summer: The 39th annual Lowell Folk Festival kicks off tonight, with the parade of flags and an opening show by former Bad Bunny bandmate Fabiola Méndez. Check out the three-day festival's full schedule here. P.S.— Which found-footage horror franchise has been turned into a stage play now running in Boston and soon headed to Broadway? Take our Boston News Quiz and test your knowledge of this week's stories. |
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