The Attorney General’s Office is ramping up its work to shut down video lottery machines in Missouri. State Attorney General Catherine Hanaway told Missourinet she is also investigating unlicensed hemp sales and some Bitcoin companies who are charging hidden or excessive fees.
“My real concern is that if we have people making literally billions of dollars in Missouri between the hemp industry, the video lottery, and these Bitcoin machines, that we’re going to start to get real organized crime in the state,” said Hanaway. “Because if you can just say, ‘Hey, I’m going to ignore the law’ and nobody does anything about it, you invite a criminal element that we haven’t seen really in a decade in Missouri. And that’s why I’m being so aggressive about it right now.”
Video lottery machines are often found in gas stations, bars, restaurants, and private clubs. Many of these businesses make a lot of money from these machines – causing an impasse among state lawmakers for several years to regulate these terminals.
“I just think it’s so important that we enforce the laws that are on the books. We think both of those are outside the law. It is coincidental that all three of these things tend to show up in in convenience stores,” said Hanaway.
As for the Bitcoin companies, Hanaway said some are charging hidden or excessive fees. Her office is investigating five Bitcoin companies doing business in Missouri. Hanaway is demanding anti-fraud policies from Coinflip, Rockitcoin, Bitcoin Depot, Athena Bitcoin, and Byte Federal.
“Iowa is a little bit ahead of us,” Hanaway told Missourinet. “They’ve been doing this investigation for some time and what they’re finding is that you put cash in, but you never really get Bitcoin or any other kind of currency. The Iowa Attorney General tells me she has yet to find a transaction that wasn’t fraudulent.”
The FBI reports Bitcoin ATM scams exploded in 2025, with Americans losing a record $333 million.
“I’m just begging them to stay away from them. It is incredibly damaging to people what these machines have done. If you go on YouTube and look, you’ll find videotapes as transactions where people are feeding thousands of dollars in and then it turns out they never received anything in exchange,” said Hanaway.
Bitcoin machines look like ATMs and are often found in convenience stores. Bitcoin is digital currency that is nearly anonymous and often used by criminal organizations to scam victims into believing a story so the victims will hand over significant amounts of cash.
“People get these scam calls that say something like, you know, ‘This is your granddaughter. I’ve lost my wallet. The only way to get money to me is through Bitcoin. So if you put money in this ATM, it’ll transfer the Bitcoin to me,’” said Hanaway. “Other scams, you know, even claim that maybe somebody’s bank account has been tampered with, and this is the only way to take care of it. It’s mostly the elderly that people are preying on, but everybody has the potential to be a victim.”
Hanaway’s office is also going after stores that she says are illegally selling cannabis.
“There are places openly advertising and selling cannabis products that don’t have licenses,” said Hanaway. “And so, we’re working closely with the Department of Health to identify those stores since they sort of regulate food products in the state. There are at least 50 of these stores around the state, I know there’s one in Jeff City, that openly and notoriously ignore the law. We need to shut those down.”
According to Hanaway, some customers have reported merchandise that might look like candy or other legitimate food items, but they are chemically-altered and deceptively marketed products.
Her office is requiring several Missouri smoke shops believed to be illegally selling these products to give information about the manufacturing, processing, and all ingredients used, among other things.
“It’s a challenge for local prosecutors because we did legalize cannabis in this state, but just like we do for liquor sales, you have to be licensed to make these sales,” she told Missourinet.
Hanaway said many of the products are highly intoxicating, raising the risk of impairment, psychotic episodes, or other adverse health effects.
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