Several Minnesota cities are considering crackdowns on cryptocurrency ATMs, saying they've become preferred tools for scammers.

Why it matters: Fraud at crypto kiosks has skyrocketed in recent years. In more than 5,500 cases nationwide, victims lost over $189 million to schemes involving a crypto ATM in 2023, according to the FBI.

• City officials say regulations are necessary to spare police resources from the difficult task of solving these crimes: The digital transactions are hard to trace, and victims rarely get full refunds.

State of play: Stillwater leaders banned the kiosks last month. The St. Paul City Council met to discuss its own possible regulations last week, and other metro cities are also reportedly considering rules.

• Forest Lake has enacted an ordinance that stops short of a ban, but would shut down any kiosk that fraudsters use more than once in six months.

How it works: Crypto ATMs are all over the metro in grocers, gas stations and liquor stores, letting users trade cash for currencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum.

Threat level: FBI data suggest seniors are at greatest risk. People over 60 lost nearly two-thirds of the money reported stolen at crypto ATMs in 2023.

Case in point: One Maple Grove senior withdrew more than $22,000 in cash from his bank and sent it to a phone scammer through a Bitcoin ATM, KARE11 reported last year.

Between the lines: The crypto ATM era has probably passed, Axios Crypto's Brady Dale says.

• Crypto is much easier to buy in online marketplaces, which have lower transaction fees than the ATMs.
• Most kiosks only allow cash deposits and not withdrawals — "which makes these things absolutely useless," Stillwater Mayor Ted Kozlowski told a St. Paul council hearing.

What they're saying: The kiosks' limited use case has led Stillwater Police Chief Brian Mueller to conclude they're "purely predatory."

The other side: Kiosk company Athena Bitcoin "regularly works with law enforcement agencies and is genuinely committed to fighting financial crimes, especially those targeting the elderly population," attorney Robert Musiala told Stillwater officials in a letter, according to the Pioneer Press.

• Athena also argued the city doesn't have the legal authority to regulate crypto kiosks.

What we're watching: Kozlowski acknowledged Stillwater's ban is likely to face a court challenge.

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"There will be a very short special session to finish up the last few things that need to be done."

State of play: Lawmakers worked through the weekend to pass several budget and policy measures, including tougher penalties for repeat DWI offenders.

• But some of the biggest and most complicated spending bills, including education, taxes and health and human services, remain in limbo.

What we're watching: How an agreement between leaders to end MinnesotaCare access for undocumented adults clears the tied House and DFL-majority Senate, given blowback from Democrats.

• Senate Republicans have signaled they may seek other changes to the overall deal in exchange for votes.

What to expect: Leaders say they hope to be done by Memorial Day.

Go deeper via MPR News.

🚔 Police Chief Brian O'Hara told the New York Post that Minneapolis has a "detached, bourgeois liberal mentality" that often distorts facts. Some council members called the comments condescending. (Star Tribune)

🏛️ The Minnesota Court of Appeals will review whether the state can prosecute tribal members for cannabis crimes. (Minnesota Reformer)

🗳️ Melisa López Franzen suspended her bid for U.S. Senate, setting the stage for a DFL primary showdown between Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan and U.S. Rep. Angie Craig.

⚾️ The Twins' winning streak ended at 13 with yesterday's loss to Milwaukee. (Associated Press)

• Mea culpa to the 1991 Twins, whose 15-game winning streak remains the longest in franchise history. (We got this record wrong in Friday's newsletter.)

As Ryan Mackenthun plants his soybeans and corn this spring across 2,300 acres of farmland that cradles his family's 1887 homestead, he is both fearful of President Trump's latest tariffs and still smarting from those enacted during his first term.

The big picture: The 48-year-old father from Brownton has yet to see any impact from Trump's "Liberation Day" proclamations. That doesn't mean it isn't top of mind.

• Soybean prices have been flat for about a year, and China's appetite for crushed soybean meal was already dropping, Mackenthun said.

The intrigue: Mackenthun, vice president of the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association, has planted more corn than ever this year.

• "That might work for a year, but if everybody does that, then we'll have an oversupply of corn, and the corn price will go down," he said.

What's next: Mackenthun says tariff pauses and talk of talks between Washington and Beijing provide "a little optimism that things will get resolved quickly."

• "But I don't get my hopes up too high anymore."

Go deeper via Axios Markets.

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Expect to hear the names Liam, Henry, Charlotte and Evelyn ring across Minnesota playgrounds in the coming years.

State of play: Here are the state's hottest baby names for 2024, per Social Security Administration data, ranked in order of popularity:

• 👦 Boys: Liam, Henry, Theodore, Oliver, Noah.
• 👧 Girls: Charlotte, Evelyn, Olivia, Emma, Amelia.

Zoom in: An Axios analysis of baby names more common in Minnesota than the U.S. overall reflects the state's growing diversity.

• That list includes Arabic names common in the East African community (Abdullahi, Isra) and several that can be of Germanic origin (Greta, Etta).
• Crosby also made the cut, perhaps signaling that parents are drawing inspiration from local places — or beloved folk musicians!

Share the full story with your favorite Charlotte or Liam...