Athena Bitcoin Spam Text Class Action Settlement (Closed)

Published April 25, 2026

Updated July 1, 2026

If Athena Bitcoin kept texting you after you replied STOP, here is what the $4.5 million TCPA settlement offered — the June 30, 2026 claim deadline has now passed and the settlement is closed.

By Steve Levine

Editor-in-Chief

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What Was the Athena Bitcoin Class Action About?

Did you receive text messages from Athena Bitcoin after you already replied STOP? A $4.5 million class action settlement resolved claims that Athena Bitcoin sent telemarketing texts to people who had asked the company to stop. Important: the June 30, 2026 claim deadline has passed, so this settlement is now closed and no new claims can be filed.

The lawsuit, captioned Jackson v. Athena Bitcoin, Inc., Civil Action No. 4:24-cv-331-MW/MJF, was pending before District Judge Mark E. Walker in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida, Tallahassee Division. The named plaintiff alleged that Athena Bitcoin sent, or caused to be sent, telemarketing text messages to residential phone subscribers nationwide who had already requested that those messages stop.

The lawsuit alleged that Athena violated the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act, 47 U.S.C. § 227 (TCPA), which prohibits sending telemarketing text messages to people after they have asked the sender to stop. Athena denied any wrongdoing and denied that it violated any law. The court did not decide who was right. The parties agreed to settle to avoid the cost, distraction, and uncertainty of continued litigation.

Bitcoin Class Action Lawsuit: Why a Crypto ATM TCPA Case Is Different

Athena Bitcoin operates one of the largest networks of cryptocurrency ATMs in the United States, and its marketing text traffic was tied to a regulated financial product rather than a consumer good. That distinction matters for class members in two practical ways.

First, crypto ATM operators tend to retain detailed phone-number-level records to satisfy money transmitter and anti-money-laundering reporting obligations. The same records that existed for compliance reasons also made it possible to identify exactly which numbers received which messages, which is why the settlement administrator, not the class member, supplied the proof of class membership in the form of a unique Class Member ID. Second, unwanted texts from a crypto company carry a higher follow-on risk than typical spam, because scammers routinely impersonate bitcoin ATM brands to phish private keys and recovery phrases. The legitimate Athena settlement was administered by Kroll and only directed class members to the official athenabitcoinTCPAlitigation.com website. Any text claiming to be related to this case that asks for wallet credentials, seed phrases, or up-front fees was never part of the settlement.

Who Qualified for the Athena Bitcoin Spam Text Class Action?

You likely qualified if all of the following were true:

• You had a residential telephone number in the United States between August 20, 2020 and August 20, 2024.
• You received text messages from Athena Bitcoin during that window.
• At some point you replied STOP (or sent a single message that consisted only of the word STOP).
• More than 30 days after your STOP request, you still received at least two more text messages from Athena Bitcoin promoting goods or services within a 12-month period.
• The number that received the texts was not a business line.

Important: the June 30, 2026 claim deadline has passed, so this eligibility summary is now for reference only — the settlement is closed and no new claims can be filed.

Who Was Included in the IDNC Settlement Class?

The court defined the settlement class as all persons in the United States (1) to whom Athena delivered, or caused to be delivered, more than one text message promoting goods or services within any 12-month period, (2) more than 30 days after receiving a message consisting solely of the word STOP, (3) between August 20, 2020 and August 20, 2024, (4) excluding business numbers.

The following are excluded from the class:

• Athena and its parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, and controlled persons.
• Athena’s officers, directors, agents, servants, and employees, and the immediate family members of such persons.
• The judges and staff of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
• Anyone who validly opts out of the settlement.

What Benefits Did the Athena Bitcoin Settlement Provide?

Athena agreed to create a settlement fund of $4,500,000. After notice and administration costs, attorneys’ fees, and a service award to the class representative, the remaining funds were used to pay class member claims.

• Cash payment from the fund. Each IDNC Settlement Class Member who submitted a timely and valid claim form was eligible to receive a cash payment from the Settlement Fund.
• Pro rata distribution. The actual amount each claiming class member received was not determined until after the claim deadline passed, because the per-person payment depended on how many valid claims were filed.
• Class Member ID required. Claimants had to enter the unique Class Member ID printed on the mailed or emailed notice from Kroll. No receipts, phone bills, or other out-of-pocket documentation were required — the ID was how the administrator confirmed a number was on Athena’s text records.

Crypto Spam Text Class Action Claim Form: How to File

Important: the claim deadline of June 30, 2026 has passed. This settlement is now closed and the online and mailed claim options described below are no longer available. The Class Member ID requirement is now moot since filing has closed.

Key Deadlines

• Opt out deadline: May 15, 2026 (passed)
• Objection deadline: May 15, 2026 (passed)
• Claim form deadline: June 30, 2026 (passed)
• Final approval hearing: August 10, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. before the Honorable Mark E. Walker at the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida

What Happens Now That the Claim Deadline Has Passed?

Class members who did not submit a valid, timely claim form by June 30, 2026 will not receive a cash payment. Class members remain bound by the settlement and gave up their right to sue or continue to sue Athena Bitcoin for the released claims, including TCPA claims related to text messages received between August 20, 2020 and August 20, 2024, unless they validly opted out by the May 15, 2026 deadline.

Was This a Bitcoin Scam Text? How the Real Settlement Differed from Phishing

Bitcoin and crypto-related scam texts are common, and bad actors have a history of impersonating real settlements to steal money or wallet credentials. A few signals separated this legitimate settlement from a scam:

• The official settlement website was athenabitcoinTCPAlitigation.com. Anything else was not the settlement.
• The settlement administrator was Kroll Settlement Administration. Kroll never asked class members to send cryptocurrency, share a seed phrase, share a recovery phrase, send gift cards, or pay an up-front fee to claim a payment.
• Filing a claim was free. There was no cost, no processing charge, and no release fee.
• A real claim asked only for the Class Member ID from a mailed or emailed notice plus basic identifying and payment information — never wallet credentials.

Attorneys and Service Awards

The court appointed lawyers from The HQ Firm, P.C. as Class Counsel. Class members were not charged for their services. Class Counsel asked the court to award attorneys’ fees in an amount equal to 33% of the Settlement Fund, plus litigation costs, a service award for the class representative, and the costs of administering the settlement, all paid from the Settlement Fund.

Official Settlement Website: athenabitcoinTCPAlitigation.com (claim filing is closed)

Official Settlement Notice

Sources

Filing Class Action Settlement Claims