Georgia: Crypto Task Force and Legislation

Task force: Past or unclearReserve: FailedKiosks: LawNeeds follow-up check

Task force or study body Confirmed

Senate Study Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Digital Currency · Dormant

• Created by: Senate Resolution 391 (2025-2026 session), entered the Senate hopper Mar. 13, 2025 and adopted by substitute 52-0 on Apr. 2, 2025; primary sponsor Sen. John Albers, with Sens. Shawn Still, Jason Anavitarte, Randy Robertson, Ed Setzler and Clint Dixon as co-sponsors (CryptoSlate tracker; the legis.ga.gov page and resolution text could not be read directly). Provides for six members appointed by the President of the Senate and a Dec. 1, 2025 sunset.
• Organized by: Georgia State Senate
• Led by: No chair identified. The Senate's 2025 Special and Study Committees page, read Nov. 2, 2026, lists SR 391 with appointments shown as 'Not Appointed' and no chair, meeting dates or report. Albers is the resolution's sponsor, not a confirmed chair.
• Members: None named. The Senate page shows no appointments.
• Outputs and timeline: None found. No meeting notices, hearings or final report located; the Senate page lists none. The tracker marks the resolution expired (sunset Dec. 1, 2025) and says no extension or successor measure was found.

Sources: Georgia Senate: 2025 Special and Study Committees, CryptoSlate: SR 391 profile, legis.ga.gov: SR 391 (page content did not load for us)

SR 391 appears never to have been constituted, so we classify it as dormant rather than concluded. Chair, members and report: none confirmed. Do not confuse it with the 2024 AI-only study committee. Also in the tracker: HR 905 (2025-2026), which would encourage the Department of Education to run a K-12 awareness campaign on blockchain, crypto and Web3; its status has not been confirmed. No source says Georgia's committee follows The Digital Chamber's model task force bill.

Bitcoin or digital asset reserve law Reported

SB 178 (Sen. Greg Dolezal; co-sponsors include Sens. Beach, Dixon and Esteves) would have let the State Depository Board authorize the treasurer to invest in Bitcoin (cap 5% of any fund; qualified custodian or ETP). SB 228 (Sen. Jason Esteves and others) would have allowed treasurer investment in bitcoin with custody policies. Both were read and referred to the Senate Banking and Financial Institutions Committee in February 2025 and did not advance. A Senate composite status report dated May 14, 2026 (legis.ga.gov) lists no action beyond first reading for either bill, and CryptoSlate reports both expired when the 2025-2026 session adjourned sine die Apr. 3, 2026 without enactment. We could not open the bills' legis.ga.gov pages directly. One article (Tribality) describes SB 228 as uncapped; CryptoSlate and Legiplex summaries do not say so.

Sources: legis.ga.gov: Senate composite status report (May 14, 2026), CryptoSlate: SB 178 status, CryptoSlate: SB 228 status, Legiplex: SB 178, Legiplex: SB 228

Licensing Confirmed

Yes. The Department of Banking and Finance (DBF) licenses money transmitters under the Georgia Money Transmitters Act (O.C.G.A. 7-1-680 et seq.), and its virtual currency kiosk guidance (July 2023) states that transmitting Bitcoin and other virtual currency is money transmission, citing the statutory definitions of money transmission (7-1-680(14)) and virtual currency (7-1-680(30)) and the licensure exemptions in 7-1-682. DBF cease-and-desist releases cite 7-1-681 (unlicensed transmission of money or monetary value, including virtual currency): Bullet Blockchain, Inc. (kiosks, final Jan. 16, 2025) and Virtual Assets LLC d/b/a Crypto Dispensers (online virtual currency trading platform, final Jan. 16, 2026). Licensees must keep at least $100,000 tangible net worth and a surety bond of at least $250,000, per the guidance. Georgia has no separate virtual currency license and has not adopted the Uniform Virtual Currency Business Act that we found. We did not read the statute text itself; the statutory citations come from DBF's guidance and releases.

Sources: Georgia DBF: Virtual currency kiosk guidance (July 2023, PDF), Georgia DBF: Bullet Blockchain cease and desist (Jan. 16, 2025), Georgia DBF: Crypto Dispensers cease and desist (Jan. 16, 2026), Georgia DBF: Money Transmitters page

Crypto kiosks (ATMs) Reported

HB 945 (2025-2026 session, short title on the legislature's tracker: holds on accounts of eligible adults for suspected financial exploitation) passed the General Assembly by Apr. 3, 2026 and, per news reports, adds statewide rules for virtual currency kiosks: a fraud warning, a fee cap of 18%, daily limits of $2,500 for new customers (under 72 hours) and $10,000 for existing customers, a full refund to a new customer defrauded in the first 72 hours who reports within five days, detailed receipts, live phone support, a compliance officer and high-risk-wallet screening, plus bank and credit union holds of 15 business days (extendable) on suspected exploitation of eligible adults. A WTOC report on July 1, 2026 lists HB 945 among laws taking effect that day. We have not confirmed the Governor's signature, the Act number or the enrolled text from legis.ga.gov or the Governor's office (an April 13 report said it was on his desk), so we treat the enactment as reported. Separately, kiosk operators already needed a DBF money transmitter license where customers may send funds to third-party wallets, and DBF has acted against unlicensed operators (see licensing). Earlier kiosk-only bills were not found.

Sources: Atlanta News First: Georgia lawmakers crack down on Bitcoin ATM scams (Apr. 3, 2026), WTOC: New Georgia laws now in effect (July 1, 2026), WALB: New law aims to protect Ga. seniors (Apr. 13, 2026), Legiplex: HB 945 (history through Feb. 20, 2026), Georgia DBF: Virtual currency kiosk guidance

Industry groups (non-governmental)

• Atlanta Blockchain Center: Atlanta-based blockchain community hub that co-hosted a 'Georgia Day of Action' advocacy event with Stand With Crypto, including a stop at the State Capitol (event page shows a past July 2 date; year not stated). We did not find evidence that it is a state trade association or a NABA member.
• No Georgia state blockchain council or alliance found: Searches did not surface a Georgia statewide blockchain association comparable to the NABA founding members. No Georgia group appears on the eight-member NABA list reported in January 2025, and we did not find later additions.

Sources: Georgia Day of Action event page, Press coverage listing NABA's eight members (relaying CoinDesk)

Other 2025 to 2026 actions

• 2026-07-01: HB 945, reported to include virtual currency kiosk consumer protections (18% fee cap, $2,500/$10,000 daily limits, scam refund, fraud warning) and bank holds on suspected elder financial exploitation, was listed among laws taking effect July 1, 2026. Governor's signature and Act number not confirmed by us.
• 2026-10-07/08: Georgia DBF entered a consent order with Coinme, Inc. as part of a coordinated action with 31 other states, D.C. and Puerto Rico: $2.5 million settlement shared among agencies, requirement to stop kiosk operations in Georgia before Jan. 1, 2027, and an independent BSA/AML program review.
• 2026-07-06: Bitcoin Depot Operating, LLC surrendered its Georgia money transmitter license under a consent order; the release notes the company filed Chapter 11 about May 18, 2026 and took its kiosks offline that day.

Sources: WTOC: New Georgia laws now in effect, Atlanta News First (Apr. 3, 2026), Georgia DBF press release, Georgia DBF press release

Source notes: legis.ga.gov bill pages and resolution text did not render in our reader, so SR 391 terms, SB 178/SB 228 histories and HB 945's signature, Act number and enrolled text are unconfirmed against primary legislative pages; the Senate study-committee page and Senate composite status report were read. HB 945 enactment and its kiosk provisions rest on local news reports (Apr. 3, Apr. 13 and July 1, 2026); Legiplex's HB 945 summary shows only the exploitation-hold caption and history through Feb. 20, 2026, so the kiosk language was likely added later. Statutory citations for virtual currency licensing come from DBF guidance, not statute text. Study committee information is as of Nov. 2, 2026; no appointments existed on the Senate page.