Bitcoin Depot Files Chapter 11: 9,276 ATMs Go Dark on May 18

Bitcoin Depot, North America's largest Bitcoin ATM operator, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on May 18, 2026, in the Southern District of Texas. All 9,276 kiosks went offline the same day. With Bitcoin trading at $76,800 and BTM shares already down 79.48% over six months, the collapse marks the first time a Nasdaq-listed crypto ATM company has entered bankruptcy proceedings.

TL;DR: Bitcoin Depot shut down 9,276 ATMs on May 18, 2026, after filing Chapter 11 in Texas. Preliminary Q1 2026 revenue fell 49.2% year-over-year to $83.5 million, per the company's official Globe Newswire release, with a net loss of $9.5 million.

The collapse carries a sharp irony. Bitcoin Depot was founded to bring everyday people closer to Bitcoin, placing kiosks in grocery stores and gas stations across the US, Canada, and Australia. It became the biggest ATM operator on the continent. Then it ran headlong into the very regulatory forces that much of the crypto world is still fighting to change.

• ATM kiosks active (pre-shutdown): 9,276
• Q1 2026 preliminary revenue: $83.5M (down 49.2% year-over-year, per Globe Newswire)
• Q1 2026 net loss: $9.5 million
• BTM stock decline (6 months): -79.48%
• IT security breach (April 2026): $3.7 million stolen from company wallets
• Chapter 11 filed: May 18, 2026, Texas

Source: Bitcoin Depot official press release via Globe Newswire · CoinDesk · May 18, 2026

How 9,000 Machines Go Dark in a Single Day

CEO Alex Holmes, appointed in March 2026 after Connecticut had already suspended the company's money transmission license, pointed squarely at the regulatory environment in the company's official statement:

“States have imposed increasingly stringent compliance obligations, including new transaction limits, and in some jurisdictions restrictions or outright prohibitions on BTM operations.”

The subtext is clear. Massachusetts and Iowa both filed lawsuits against Bitcoin Depot, accusing the company of facilitating large-scale crypto fraud. Add the legal costs from a Canadian subsidiary embroiled in an $18.5 million dispute, plus the April 2026 cyberattack that drained $3.7 million from company wallets, and the financial picture deteriorates fast.

The ATM business model had thin margins to begin with. Kiosk fees typically run between 15% and 20% per transaction, a spread that only works at high retail demand and low regulatory pressure. Once states began capping daily transaction volumes (some jurisdictions set limits below $1,000), volume fell, revenue collapsed, and fixed costs stayed constant. Preliminary Q1 2026 revenue of $83.5 million, down 49.2% year-over-year according to Globe Newswire, tells the story in one line. The swing from $12.2 million net profit in Q1 2025 to a $9.5 million net loss in Q1 2026 happened in twelve months flat.

What Happens to Funds in Bitcoin ATMs When the Operator Collapses?

Functionally, chapter 11 is not immediate liquidation. Bitcoin Depot filed a voluntary, court-supervised wind-down, with Vinson & Elkins as legal counsel and Portage Point Partners advising on restructuring. The stated goal is an orderly asset sale under judicial oversight. Canadian entities are included in the US process; other foreign operations will be wound down under their respective local laws.

Users with funds in transit or balances held in linked wallets should contact customer support directly before the process closes. The physical kiosks will no longer dispense Bitcoin: the network went offline on the morning of May 18. User wallet funds are not technically part of Bitcoin Depot's estate, so the bankruptcy proceedings shouldn't directly affect them. Shouldn't. Anyone familiar with the Canadian ATM saga knows that procedural assurances and real-world timelines don't always align.

Canada is a particularly instructive case here. Ottawa proposed banning all 4,000 Bitcoin ATMs on Canadian soil following CAD 704 million in fraud losses during 2025. The regulatory tide was already running hard against the sector before May 18.

The Signals the Sector Was Already Sending

Bitcoin Depot didn't fall without warning. BTM shares had shed 79.48% over the prior six months. A going-concern warning had appeared in its filings weeks earlier. The Connecticut license suspension came in March. Yet the speed of the final collapse still surprises: just months ago, Bitcoin Depot was operating 9,276 kiosks across the US, Canada, and Australia, and looked like a permanent fixture of the retail crypto landscape. The second-largest operator, Coinstar through its partnership with Coinme, manages roughly 5,000 machines and had not announced any direct impact as of this morning.

The attorneys general of Massachusetts and Iowa had not commented on the bankruptcy filing by this morning, but the fraud-facilitation lawsuit remains open and could complicate the planned asset sale. With $83.5 million in Q1 2026 revenue still on the books, according to the Globe Newswire press release, the brand and physical network retain residual value. Someone will buy them, most likely at prices far below peak. According to Allied Market Research, the global Bitcoin ATM market was worth $8.5 billion in 2025, with a projected trajectory toward $22 billion by 2032.

The real question isn't whether the kiosk market survives: it's who survives in it. The gap left by 9,276 machines won't stay empty for long. The operator that steps in will need lower compliance costs, clean licenses across jurisdictions, and margins wide enough to absorb the pace of litigation that US regulators are now setting. Bitcoin Depot wasn't that company. The next contender had better be.