Coinme ordered to refund over $8 million to customers following crackdown in Washington state.

PANews reported on December 4th that, according to Decrypt, Washington state regulators have ordered Bitcoin ATM operator Coinme to suspend operations and return over $8 million in unclaimed funds to customers. The reason given is that the company treated unredeemed vouchers as revenue, violating money transfer regulations. Last Tuesday, the state Department of Finance issued a temporary injunction and a statement of charges, indicating that Coinme's cryptocurrency voucher system violated the state's Uniform Money Services Act. On Monday, the department further explained that Seattle-based Coinme sold paper vouchers through self-service terminals for users to redeem online. When many users failed to redeem their vouchers in time, Coinme appropriated the funds owed to customers without disclosure or reclaiming the unclaimed property.

As required, Coinme has 20 days to request a hearing after receiving the order. If it fails to do so, the temporary injunction will become permanent on the 21st day. It must immediately cease serving customers in Washington state (except for refunds), segregate customer assets, and the compensation amount will be the higher of the amount paid by the user and the cryptocurrency value on the date the order is issued. Furthermore, the state financial department intends to revoke its license, impose a $300,000 fine and $375 in investigation costs, and also indict its co-founder, Neil Bergquist, banning him and the company from engaging in money transfer business for ten years.