Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has sued two crypto ATM companies that some in and out of the White House say runs afoul of President Donald Trump’s mission to make America the “crypto capital of the world.”
Trump campaigned on installing a pro-crypto agenda, likening it to the “steel industry of 100 years ago.” He even promised at the annual Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2024 to ensure America becomes the “crypto capital of the planet and Bitcoin superpower of the world.”
He promised to fire then-Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler, who often targeted crypto exchanges and other related companies.
The crypto industry embraced Trump’s candidacy.
His pro-crypto accolades even earned the backing of Gemini exchange cofounders Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, who donated $2 million in Bitcoin to Trump’s campaign, citing Biden’s “war on crypto.”
Kraken founder Jesse Powell in June 2024 donated $1 million in Ethereum to Trump’s campaign.
“Despite overwhelming bipartisan Congressional efforts to put clear rules in place, the Biden White House has stood by and allowed a campaign of unchecked regulation by enforcement. This approach is diminishing US competitiveness as other major economies around the world advance clear rules to regulate digital assets. I am excited to join other leaders from our community to unite behind the only pro-crypto major party candidate in the 2024 Presidential election so the United States can continue to remain a leader in blockchain technology,” Powell wrote.
By October 2024, Trump 47 Committee, a joint fundraising committee, had raised about $7.5 million in cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies.
Trump even made history by becoming the first U.S. president to sign a Bitcoin transaction, saying it was “very easy.” The 47th president in September 2024 visited PubKey, a Manhattan, New York, bar and restaurant famous for accepting Bitcoin.
In the first days of his administration, Trump signed an executive order to strengthen American leadership in digital financial technology “in order to promote United States leadership in digital assets and financial technology while protecting economic liberty.”
He then worked with lawmakers to pass the GENIUS Act, a bill to create a light-touch regulatory environment for stablecoins, which passed through Congress with strong bipartisan support.
Despite the president’s fervent support for crypto, AG Bird announced lawsuits against two crypto ATM companies — Bitcoin Depot and Coinflip — alleging that the ATM companies are responsible for those who have been scammed. This makes her the sole attorney general to target crypto ATMs.
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Notably, Adam Gregg, president and CEO of the Iowa Bankers Association, attended the press conference where Bird announced her lawsuits against the crypto companies.
David Bossie, the president of Citizens United and a former senior adviser to multiple Trump campaigns, wrote, “Her decision to stand with the Iowa Bankers Association in announcing these lawsuits speaks volumes about where her priorities seem to lie — alongside the very financial institutions that have worked to shut out crypto firms, conservative causes and even members of Mr. Trump’s own family.”
Two Iowa Supreme Court rulings stated that “there is no evidence in the record before us that Bitcoin Depot had reason to know that a scammer had contacted Carlson and told her that she needed to purchase Bitcoins from the Bitcoin ATM and transfer them into a specified wallet to avoid her accounts being impacted.”
Supreme Court Justice Dana Oxley wrote, “Bitcoin Depot’s generalized knowledge that sometimes scammers try to defraud people into transferring Bitcoins using Bitcoin’s irreversibly encoded technology is insufficient to establish that Bitcoin Depot had ‘reason to know’ of (plaintiff’s) particular duress. (Plaintiff) attempts to turn a warning against fraud into an admission of liability. That Bitcoin Depot recognizes how its ATMs could be misused and tries to warn its customers and make them more difficult to misuse does not in and of itself undermine the validity of the contract between Bitcoin Depot and the depositing customer just because a scammer is successful.”
This has led those in and out of the White House to raise concerns about Bird’s lawsuit against the crypto companies.
“The President loves crypto and wants it to be accessible to Iowans. Brenna Bird’s head-scratching move has me thinking she is listening to Ann Selzer,” a senior White House official said in a statement to Breitbart News, referring to the Iowa pollster who found that Kamala Harris led Trump shortly before the 2024 presidential election.
Andrew Miltenberg, a veteran trial lawyer with almost three decades in the legal profession, said that despite his inclination to lean toward consumer protection, he believes Bird’s lawsuit has little standing.
“I think this is grandstanding against really, not necessarily, the crypto industry, but against the president and his allies,” Miltenberg said.
Although many may worry about potential fraud from crypto, Miltenberg argued, “You’re at more risk using your debit card, credit card, whether, with a major bank, using your MasterCard, your Visa, trading on the stock exchange, there are so many more ways financially that a general consumer is at risk.”
He said this lawsuit against the crypto ATM companies is similar to suing gun manufacturers every time there is a shooting.
“It’s easy to get people to light torches and come running with pitchforks, because it’s an issue they don’t really understand,” he remarked.
Miltenberg noted that there could be regulations or safeguards that could be put in place to increase consumer protection for those using to use crypto; however, said that a lawsuit is not the best move.
He added, “The only way to reconcile what the AG is doing is that it’s headlines and it’s a direct strike against the President.”
AG Bird declined an interview with Breitbart News and has yet to provide a statement on this issue.
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on X @SeanMoran3.
