Bitcoin Depot has appointed Alex Holmes, the former chief executive of payments company MoneyGram, as its new CEO and board chair. The announcement came on Tuesday, the same day the company confirmed that outgoing CEO Scott Buchanan had stepped down immediately after fewer than three months in the role. A regulatory filing stated that his departure was not the result of any internal disagreement.
Holmes brings extensive experience from a 16-year career at MoneyGram, where he held several senior positions including chief financial officer and CEO, with a particular focus on regulatory compliance. He was already serving as a board member at Bitcoin Depot before his appointment. In a statement, Holmes outlined his immediate priorities as operational stability, regulatory progress, and expanding the company into a broader fintech platform.
The leadership transition also affects Brandon Mintz, the company’s founder and former CEO, who will move from his role as executive chair to a non-executive board position. Mintz will additionally serve as an adviser to Holmes going forward. The changes come at a turbulent time for the crypto ATM operator, which is navigating a growing wave of legal and regulatory challenges across the United States.
Among the most recent actions, Connecticut‘s banking regulator suspended Bitcoin Depot’s state money transmission license and issued a temporary cease-and-desist order earlier this month. The order cited multiple alleged violations of state money transmission laws, including excessive fees and incomplete refunds to victims of scams. The company has faced similar actions from at least four other states since the start of 2025.
Massachusetts‘ attorney general filed a lawsuit against Bitcoin Depot in early February, alleging the company overcharged consumers, knowingly facilitated scams, and refused to issue refunds. Iowa also sued Bitcoin Depot and rival operator CoinFlip in February over alleged failures that enabled scammers to move millions of dollars through their kiosks. Meanwhile, Missouri‘s attorney general opened an investigation in December into Bitcoin Depot and four other crypto ATM operators over concerns about deceptive fees and misuse by bad actors.
In January, Bitcoin Depot paid $1.9 million to Maine‘s Consumer Credit Protection Bureau to compensate consumers affected by fraudulent transactions. The company has also revised its financial outlook downward, estimating that revenues for 2026 will fall between 30% and 40%, citing what it described as a dynamic regulatory environment. These projections were included in its 2025 results released earlier this month.
Shares in Bitcoin Depot, trading under the ticker BTM, closed Wednesday down 6.6% at $2.62 before recovering slightly in after-hours trading to $2.74, a gain of approximately 4.7%. The stock has declined 71% so far this year and has lost more than 94% of its value compared to its all-time closing high of $45.36, reached in mid-June of a prior year.
Originally reported by CoinTelegraph.
