South Carolina: Crypto Task Force and Legislation

Task force: Proposed onlyReserve: PendingKiosks: Bill only

Task force or study body Unclear

State Treasurer's Digital Assets Literacy Project · Status unclear

• Created by: Established under the Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Appropriations Bill, H. 5150, according to the Treasurer's office web page. The page does not cite a specific proviso or exact date.
• Organized by: South Carolina State Treasurer's Office.
• Led by: The State Treasurer's Office; the page names no project lead. Treasurer Curtis Loftis spoke publicly about the topic in a July 14, 2022 office release (he was scheduled to speak at the SC Blockchain Conference, Oct 5-7, 2022). Whether he currently holds the office was not checked, so treat this as dated 2022.
• Members: None listed; this is an office program, not a multi-member body. The page links to outside reference material from federal agencies and NCSL but names no partners.
• Outputs and timeline: Stated activities: develop digital-currency financial literacy materials for different audiences, study how a digital economy and financial innovation could benefit the state, guide agencies and consumers, and maintain a news and resource center. The page lists no reports produced by the project, and the page shows 2025 news items.

Sources: SC Treasurer: Digital Assets Literacy Project, SC Treasurer release: Loftis to speak at SC Blockchain Conference (July 14, 2022)

SC Blockchain Voting Verification Study Committee (proposed, not created) · Proposed, not established

• Created by: H. 3493 (2021-22 session), a joint resolution introduced Jan 12, 2021 by Reps. Jones, Haddon, Pope, Forrest and Alexander. It would have studied blockchain so voters could verify their own votes, reporting by Jan 1, 2022.
• Organized by: Not applicable; never established.
• Led by: Not applicable.
• Members: Proposed membership included the Senate President, House Speaker, several committee chairs and the State Election Commission director.
• Outputs and timeline: None. The bill stayed in House Judiciary after Jan 27, 2021 and the 2021-22 session has ended.

Sources: SC General Assembly: H. 3493 (2021-22)

We found no formal digital-asset task force or legislative study committee in South Carolina; treat this as 'none found' rather than proof that none exists. The Treasurer's program is the closest state-run effort and has no confirmed output.

Sources: SC General Assembly: S. 163 (Act 208 of 2026)

Bitcoin or digital asset reserve law Confirmed

H. 4256 (Strategic Digital Assets Reserve Act, Rep. Jordan Pace) would let the State Treasurer invest up to 10% of certain state funds in bitcoin/digital assets (1 million BTC cap per press reports). It was introduced and referred to House Ways and Means on March 27, 2025; the legislature's page shows no later action, and NCSL lists it as pending. With the two-year session's regular schedule past, it appears effectively dead, though we have not confirmed this. We found no reserve bill that advanced and no Treasurer or Governor reserve initiative.

Sources: SC General Assembly: H. 4256, FITSNews, May 9, 2025, Bitcoin Magazine, Mar. 28, 2025

Licensing Unclear

Money transmission is licensed under the South Carolina Uniform Money Services Act (S.C. Code Ann. 35-11-100 et seq.), with the Attorney General as Commissioner over certain money services businesses (Money Services Division). The AG's page says 2024 Act No. 218, signed July 2, 2024, substantially adopted the Money Transmission Modernization Act and raised the license fee to $1,600. The Division's FAQ states a position dated Dec 5, 2018: virtual currencies alone lack the characteristics of a medium of exchange and are not 'monetary value', but transactions that also transfer fiat currency may fall under the Act, and it points to a Bitcoin ATM order (MSD-19003) for kiosk-type transactions. We did not read that order, and we do not know whether the 2018 position was revisited after the 2024 update. The statute text we reviewed does not mention virtual currency. S. 163 (Act 208 of 2026) exempts digital-asset miners, node operators, blockchain software developers and digital-asset-to-digital-asset exchanges from money transmitter licensing, per law-firm summaries.

Sources: SC AG Money Services Division, SC AG Money Services FAQs, S.C. Code Title 35, ch. 11, Orrick InfoBytes on S. 163 (June 5, 2026), SC AG Bitcoin ATM order (PDF, not reviewed)

Crypto kiosks (ATMs) Confirmed

No enacted South Carolina crypto kiosk law found. H. 4592 (Vending of Digital Assets; Reps. Guffey, B. Newton and Pope; NCSL lists it as Virtual Currency Kiosks) was prefiled Dec 16, 2025, introduced Jan 13, 2026 and referred to House Labor, Commerce and Industry, with no later action shown. It would add Article 13 to Chapter 3 of Title 34: money transmitter licensing for kiosk owners and operators, on-screen risk warnings and receipts, daily limits of $2,000 for new customers (under seven days of activity) and $10,500 for existing customers, and a full operator-paid refund of a first transaction sent to a wallet or exchange outside the U.S. when the customer reports fraud within 60 days (refund due within 72 hours). The AG's licensing FAQ separately points to a Bitcoin ATM order for license determinations. S. 163 does not address kiosks. H. 4592 appears effectively dead if it did not move before the session ended; we have not confirmed this.

Sources: SC General Assembly: H. 4592, NCSL 2026 crypto legislation, SC AG Money Services FAQs

Industry groups (non-governmental)

• South Carolina Emerging Tech Association: Per the Treasurer's July 2022 release, this group organized the South Carolina Blockchain Conference (SC Blockchain Week, Charleston, Oct 5-7, 2022), at which Treasurer Loftis was scheduled to speak. We did not find evidence of a NABA membership or a dedicated South Carolina blockchain council or alliance. A Charleston City Paper article about a Charleston-based group's reaction to the state's digital currency literacy decision appeared in our searches but was not reviewed.

Sources: SC Treasurer release (July 14, 2022), Charleston City Paper (not reviewed)

Other 2025 to 2026 actions

• 2026-05-19: Gov. Henry McMaster signed S. 163 (Act 208 of 2026; Sens. Verdin and Leber; titled 'Cryptocurrency'). Senate passed 38-1 on 5/1/2025 and the House 110-1 on 5/5/2026. It protects accepting digital assets and self-custody, bars extra charges solely for paying with digital assets, bars state agencies from accepting or requiring CBDC payments or joining federal CBDC pilots, exempts miners, nodes, developers and digital-asset swaps from money transmitter licensing, and addresses mining zoning and grid protections and mining/staking-as-a-service. It took effect on signature. Detail comes from law-firm summaries and committee text; we did not read the final enrolled text. NCSL's page still lists S. 163 as pending.
• 2026-01-13: H. 4592 (virtual currency kiosk regulation: licensing, daily limits, refunds) introduced and referred to House Labor, Commerce and Industry; no later action shown.
• 2025-03-27: H. 4256 (Strategic Digital Assets Reserve Act) introduced and referred to House Ways and Means; no later action shown. Separately, H. 3442 (excludes CBDC from the UCC definition of 'money') has sat in House Judiciary since Jan 2025.

Sources: SC General Assembly: S. 163, Orrick InfoBytes (June 5, 2026), Sheppard Mullin (June 11, 2026), S. 163 reported text (Mar 4, 2025), Mugglehead report, May 21, 2026, SC General Assembly: H. 4592, SC General Assembly: H. 4256, SC General Assembly: H. 3442

Source notes: Treasurer program and Loftis references are from 2022 sources; his current status was not checked. H. 4256 and H. 4592 pages show no action after March 2025 and January 2026; we have not confirmed that they died at the end of the session. S. 163 provisions come from law-firm summaries and committee text, not the enrolled text; NCSL's listing of S. 163 as pending is out of date. The AG's virtual-currency position is dated 2018 and may predate the 2024 licensing overhaul. No South Carolina Governor initiative was found.