Florida: Crypto Task Force and Legislation

Task force: ConcludedReserve: FailedKiosks: Law

Task force or study body Confirmed

Florida Blockchain Task Force · Concluded

• Created by: CS/CS/SB 1024 (2019, Sen. Gruters), 'Blockchain Technology', approved by the Governor May 23, 2019 and assigned Ch. 2019-52, Laws of Florida (Senate bill page). The CFO's task force page instead cites Ch. 2019-140 (the Department of Financial Services bill CS/CS/CS/HB 1393, which the Senate page lists as a 'compare' bill that became law June 26, 2019); we have not reconciled the two citations. A House bill with a similar purpose, CS/CS/HB 735 (Rep. Santiago), would have placed a blockchain working group in the Department of Management Services and was laid on the table when SB 1024 passed.
• Organized by: Florida Department of Financial Services (the task force sits within DFS; the Chief Financial Officer appointed three members). The Governor appointed seven members (including three agency heads) and the Senate President and House Speaker one each, per the bill text.
• Led by: Ronald Brise (chair) and Ken Lawson (vice chair), per the task force's final report; the report PDF is undated and the CFO's task force page does not name a chair. Leader information is from 2019-2020 and is historical only.
• Members: Twelve people are named on the CFO's page and the final report: David Altmaier (Office of Insurance Regulation), Ronald Brise, Charles Ghini (DFS chief information officer), Jason Holloway (Florida Blockchain Think Tank), Ken Lawson (Department of Economic Opportunity), Brad Levine, Woodrow Pollack (Shutts & Bowen), Terry Rhodes (Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles), Gary Ruderman (CPA, Ruderman and Company), Jonathan Satter (Department of Management Services), Francis Suarez (Mayor of Miami) and Robin Westcott (American Association of Insurance Services). The statute provides for 13 members; we did not identify the thirteenth. Governor's appointments of Lawson, Satter and Rhodes were announced Sept. 20, 2019.
• Outputs and timeline: Final report to the Governor and Legislature, hosted on the CFO's site. It reports meetings on Sept. 23, Oct. 28 and Dec. 13, 2019 and a fourth meeting (the PDF prints the date as Feb. 21, 2019, which appears to be a typo for 2020). Findings: government use of blockchain was mostly at pilot stage; barriers included security, scalability and regulatory uncertainty; KYC/AML compliance costs weighed on crypto businesses; and Florida faced a blockchain workforce shortage. It recommended a research-and-development pilot, with a blockchain digital-identity project with the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles as the example, and ongoing initiatives beyond the task force. Under SB 1024 the task force ends when it submits its report and presents findings; the bill sets no fixed sunset date. The report's exact publication date is not stated in the document.

Sources: CFO: Florida Blockchain Task Force page, CFO: Blockchain Task Force final report (PDF), Florida Senate: CS/CS/SB 1024 (2019), Blockchain Technology, Florida Senate: SB 1024 enrolled text (PDF), Florida House: CS/CS/HB 735 (2019), Governor's office: appointments to the Blockchain Task Force (Sept. 20, 2019), CFO: appointment of Charles Ghini (undated release), GovTech: Florida Legislature seeks answers to blockchain's potential (Feb. 2019)

Florida's only confirmed blockchain study body is the 2019 DFS task force, which has concluded. We found no standing or current task force, working group or interim study on digital assets (2025-2026). No source says the task force followed The Digital Chamber's model task force bill. Florida Blockchain Business Association president Samuel Armes describes the task force (SB 1024) as the state's first blockchain policy step in a Sept. 30, 2025 post, which is an industry-side account.

Bitcoin or digital asset reserve law Confirmed

2026 session: CS/CS/HB 1039 (Rep. Snyder) and CS/SB 1038 (Sen. Gruters) would have created a Florida Strategic Cryptocurrency Reserve managed by the CFO/State Board of Administration, limited to assets with a 24-month average market cap of at least $500 billion (effectively bitcoin). SB 1038 died in committee 3/13/2026; HB 1039 died on the Second Reading Calendar 3/13/2026. HB 183 (Rep. Barnaby, 2026, 'Investments and Deposits of Public Funds', reported to allow up to 10% of certain public funds in digital assets) died in the Insurance & Banking Subcommittee 3/13/2026. 2025 session: HB 487 (Rep. Barnaby, 'Investments of Public Funds in Bitcoin') would have let the CFO and State Board of Administration trustees invest in Bitcoin; it was withdrawn from consideration May 3, 2025 and died in the House Government Operations Subcommittee June 16, 2025, as did Senate companion SB 550 (Sen. Gruters). A Florida Bar Business Law Section committee summary (June 17, 2026) also lists SB 1038 as failed.

Sources: Florida Senate: CS/SB 1038 (2026), Florida Senate: CS/CS/HB 1039 (2026), Florida Senate: HB 183 (2026), Florida Senate: HB 487 (2025), The Block: HB 183 (Oct. 2025), Cointelegraph: SB 1038, Florida Bar Business Law Section committee minutes (June 17, 2026)

Licensing Confirmed

Florida's Money Services Business law (Ch. 560, Florida Statutes) defines 'money transmitter' to include receiving virtual currency for the purpose of acting as an intermediary (s. 560.103), and defines virtual currency as an electronic medium of exchange that is not currency (excluding in-game items and closed-loop rewards). Only an intermediary that can unilaterally execute or indefinitely block a transaction qualifies. Virtual currency transmission is therefore regulated through Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) licensing. Statute page read for the 2025 edition. In 2026 the state added payment stablecoin issuers to the same act: CS/CS/HB 175 (Reps. Barnaby and Giallombardo) bars acting as a qualified payment stablecoin issuer without a license or exemption, makes OFR the sole supervisor of qualified issuers (or a shared supervisor with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in some cases), and states that certain payment stablecoins are not securities. It passed the House 102-2 and the Senate 37-0, was approved June 26, 2026 and is Ch. 2026-176 (effective June 26, 2026). The bill page does not mention the federal GENIUS Act; a Senate sponsor said in March 2026 reporting that it aligns with that Act, and a June 2026 Florida Bar committee summary says Florida amendments may be needed once federal rules are issued.

Sources: Fla. Stat. 560.103 (2025), Florida Senate: CS/CS/HB 175 (2026), Payment Stablecoin, The Block: Florida stablecoin bill passes (Mar. 6, 2026), Florida Bar Business Law Section committee minutes (June 17, 2026)

Crypto kiosks (ATMs) Confirmed

CS/HB 505 'Virtual Currency Kiosks' (Rep. Owen), 2026: passed the House 108-0 and the Senate 37-0, House concurrence 107-0 on 3/12/2026; approved by the Governor 6/26/2026 and assigned Ch. 2026-178 on 6/29/2026. Most provisions take effect Jan. 1, 2027; the registration requirement (s. 560.502) takes effect March 1, 2027, and existing operators must apply within 30 days after Jan. 1, 2027. Neither is in force as of Nov. 2, 2026. Per the enrolled text: kiosk businesses must register annually with OFR (money transmitters licensed under s. 560.141 are exempt from registration but not from the conduct rules), and the registration application must include an attestation of documented blockchain-analytics policies. Daily limits are $2,000 for new customers (under 7 days) and $10,000 for existing customers. Kiosks must show a fraud warning and ask customers to confirm other same-day kiosk transactions. Receipts must show the fee, wallet and transaction hash, refund policy and contact details. A full refund within 72 hours is required for a customer's first transaction if fraud is reported to the operator and to law enforcement or a government agency within 60 days with proof. The bill does not cap fees. Violations carry OFR administrative remedies and the criminal and civil penalties of s. 560.125, based on value involved. Senate companion CS/CS/SB 198 was laid on the table in favor of HB 505. A 2025 version, SB 292 (Sen. Burton), died in committee June 16, 2025.

Sources: Florida Senate: CS/HB 505 (2026), Florida Senate: HB 505 bill history (chapter law number), Florida Senate: HB 505 enrolled text (PDF), Florida Senate: CS/CS/SB 198 (2026), Florida Senate: SB 292 (2025), WFLA: Bitcoin Depot bankruptcy and Florida rules (May 30, 2026)

Industry groups (non-governmental)

• Florida Blockchain Business Association (FBBA) (NABA member): Industry association founded in 2018 that brings together businesses, regulators and others to advocate on blockchain policy in Florida, per a Carlton Fields description. It is one of the eight founding members of the North American Blockchain Association (NABA), per press coverage of NABA's January 2025 launch that relays CoinDesk reporting. Its president, Samuel Armes, wrote in a Sept. 30, 2025 post that the group worked on past Florida bills including HB 1391.

Sources: Carlton Fields: joins the Florida Blockchain Business Association, Press coverage listing NABA's eight members (relaying CoinDesk), Samuel Armes: Our Last Crypto Session With Governor Ron DeSantis (Sept. 30, 2025)

Other 2025 to 2026 actions

• 2026-06-26: Governor approved CS/HB 505 (virtual currency kiosks; Ch. 2026-178). It creates OFR registration, daily transaction limits ($2,000 new / $10,000 existing customers), a fraud warning and a first-transaction refund right, effective Jan. 1, 2027 (registration March 1, 2027).
• 2026-06-26: Governor approved CS/CS/HB 175, Payment Stablecoin (Ch. 2026-176): adds qualified payment stablecoin issuers to the Money Services Business act with OFR as primary supervisor; reported by sponsors as aligned with the federal GENIUS Act. Its companion public-records bill, CS/CS/HB 1087 (Ch. 2026-130), expands confidentiality for information OFR obtains; this resolves the cross-reference noted in the earlier record.
• 2025-07-10: Attorney General James Uthmeier issued a subpoena to an unnamed crypto and stock trading platform under the state's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act, over claims that its crypto offering was the least expensive way to buy crypto; the response was due July 31, 2025 (law firm summary; outcome not found). We have not found a Florida OFR enforcement action against a kiosk operator.

Sources: Florida Senate: HB 505 bill history, Florida Senate: CS/CS/HB 175 (2026), The Block: Florida stablecoin bill (Mar. 2026), Goodwin: Florida AG launches investigation into crypto platform

Source notes: Task force leader and member information dates from 2019-2020 and is historical; the task force has concluded. HB 505 and HB 175 chapter numbers and effective dates were read on the Florida Senate site, which carries a disclaimer that its data is unverified; HB 505 provisions are from the enrolled text. HB 505 is not in force as of Nov. 2, 2026 (effective Jan. 1, 2027; registration March 1, 2027). We did not locate 2018-session bills. The Governor's release and Senate page give SB 1024 as Ch. 2019-52 while the CFO page cites Ch. 2019-140; unreconciled.