Most Canadians support banning crypto ATMs, survey suggests

In this May 11, 2018, file photo, a man uses an Ethereum ATM next to a Bitcoin ATM, in Hong Kong. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, file)

As the federal government considers banning cryptocurrency ATMs—a move it says would shut down “a primary method for scammers to defraud victims”—a new poll suggests most Canadians are on board with the idea.

Fifty-six per cent of respondents to the Research Co. survey said they support such a ban either strongly (29 per cent) or moderately (27 per cent).

That’s more than double the 26 per cent who said they oppose the proposal (12 per cent strongly and 14 per cent moderately).

The remaining 18 per cent of respondents were unsure.

Canadians lost $351 million to investment fraud, including crypto fraud, in 2025, according to the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre. Investment fraud was the costliest type of fraud in Canada last year, by a wide margin.

Since 2022, Canadians have reported $2.4 billion in losses to various frauds and scams to the centre, though that total includes losses from all forms of fraud, not just investment or crypto scams.

The total also only includes the losses that were reported. The actual loss is believed to be much higher.

The federal government’s spring economic update proposed banning crypto ATMs as part of a suite of reforms targeting financial crimes, including scams and money laundering.

Research Co.’s poll found about half of Canadians (49 per cent) agree with the statement, “bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are being used to launder money in my province” (21 per cent agreed strongly and 28 per cent moderately).

In B.C. and Ontario, majorities agreed (58 per cent in B.C. and 55 per cent in Ontario).

Overall, Canadians are more likely to have an unfavourable view of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies than a favourable one. A total of 44 per cent said they had either a very or moderately unfavourable view (25 per cent and 19 per cent, respectively), compared to 34 per cent who had a very or moderately favourable view (9 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively).

Roughly one in five (21 per cent) offered no opinion.

Familiarity with cryptocurrency seems to correlate with favourability, however, as the only demographic group that had a majority favourable opinion of the concept—18-to-34-year-olds, among whom 52 per cent viewed crypto favourably—was also the group that professed to be most informed about it.

More than half of 18-to-34-year-old respondents (54 per cent) said they were either “very informed” (16 per cent) or “moderately informed” (38 per cent) about bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Other age groups were more likely to say they were “not too informed” or “not informed at all,” and more likely to hold unfavourable views of cryptocurrency.

A similar divide can be seen along gender lines, with men more likely than women to profess to be informed about crypto and to hold favourable views of it.

A majority of men (54 per cent) told Research Co. they were very or moderately informed about cryptocurrency and 46 per cent said they had a very or moderately favourable view of it. Among women, half as many (27 per cent) said they were very or moderately informed about the concept and 24 per cent said they held a favourable view.

Research Co. conducted its survey online from May 12 to 14 among a representative sample of 1,002 adults living across the country. The results were weighted according to census data for region, age and gender, and the pollster claims the survey’s margin of error is plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

The full data tables from the survey can be found on the company’s website.