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Kansas City is filled with high-fee crypto ATMs

Installed inside gas stations, liquor stores and smoke shops, cryptocurrency kiosks tend to be placed in Kansas City neighborhoods with larger numbers of Black and Latino residents. Critics say they're a targeted attempt to exploit financially vulnerable people with steep fees for a volatile product.

Cryptocurrency kiosks have spread across the Kansas City area in recent years. ATMs emblazoned with the words "Bitcoin" and little other information have been installed in gas stations, liquor stores, smoke shops and other locations, predominantly in lower-income neighborhoods.

Dan Mika of the Kansas City Beacon shares why critics call the machines a targeted attempt to exploit financially vulnerable people with steep fees and a volatile product that’s difficult to cash out.

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Kansas City Today is hosted by Nomin Ujiyediin. It is produced by Paris Norvell and KCUR Studios and edited by Gabe Rosenberg and Lisa Rodriguez.

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As a newscaster and a host of a daily news podcast, I want to deliver the most important and interesting news of the day in an engaging and easily understandable way. No matter where you live in the metro or what you’re interested in, I want you to learn something from each newscast or podcast – and maybe even give you something to talk about at the dinner table.
Paris Norvell is a freelance podcast producer for KCUR Studios,
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