AARP urged senators to preserve Section 205 of the CLARITY Act as cryptocurrency kiosk scams draw concern. The group cited more than 13,460 complaints and $389 million in reported losses tied to the machines.
AARP, the nation’s largest nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that advocates for 125 million Americans age 50 and older, expressed strong support for provisions in the CLARITY Act market structure legislation released ahead of the Senate Banking Committee’s May 14 markup. The group urged lawmakers to preserve Section 205, which would require cryptocurrency kiosk operators to register with the Treasury Department as money transmitters while protecting state power to regulate the machines.
In a letter dated May 13 from Bill Sweeney, AARP’s senior vice president of government affairs, to Chairman Tim Scott and Ranking Member Elizabeth Warren, the group described Section 205 as a critical safeguard against cryptocurrency kiosk fraud targeting older Americans. The letter urged lawmakers to preserve both the Treasury registration requirement and the provision protecting state regulatory authority as the bill advances through markup and beyond. AARP described cryptocurrency kiosks as one of the fastest-growing fraud vectors affecting older Americans. The organization also thanked the committee for incorporating the language into the legislation released before the markup.
