West Virginia: Crypto Task Force and Legislation

Task force: None foundReserve: FailedKiosks: LawNeeds follow-up check

Task force or study body None found

No digital assets, blockchain or crypto task force, commission or study committee found. We searched: We looked for a West Virginia task force, commission, working group or interim study on blockchain, crypto or digital assets, including through the Legislature (bill histories for 2023 to 2026), the State Treasurer's office, the Governor's office and the Division of Financial Institutions. We found none that was created or is operating. In 2023, House Concurrent Resolution 67 (Delegates Linville and Cannon) asked the Joint Committee on Government and Finance to study the effect of blockchain technology on public data security and report by the 2024 session; the page we read marks it as dead after it was sent to the Senate in March 2023, so no study followed. We could not identify any 2018 or 2019 West Virginia blockchain bill or study body. The one 2018 blockchain item we found was an executive-branch pilot, not a task force: a state program to let deployed and overseas military voters cast ballots by blockchain-based mobile app (vendor Voatz), reported on April 3, 2018. The 2026 West Virginia Blockchain Foundation briefing coverage that we read does not mention a task force. Not finding one does not prove none exists, and no source we found says West Virginia follows The Digital Chamber's model task force bill.

The legislature's bill pages for HCR 67 (2023) could not be opened directly; the resolution's contents come from a LegiScan copy of the text. Treasurer Larry Pack's January 2026 year-in-review coverage does not mention crypto or any digital asset body.

Sources: LegiScan: HCR 67 (2023), blockchain data-security study request (text), GovTech: West Virginia blockchain voting pilot with Voatz (Apr 3, 2018), WVVA: Treasurer Pack year-one review and 2026 agenda (Jan 8, 2026; no crypto mention)

Bitcoin or digital asset reserve law Confirmed

Sen. Chris Rose (R) has filed two bills that would let the Board of Treasury Investments put part of the funds it oversees into precious metals, qualifying digital assets and approved stablecoins. In 2025 this was Senate Bill 465, titled 'Creating WV Treasurer's Investment in Precious Metals and Digital Currency Act' (called the Inflation Protection Act of 2025 in press); the Legislature's page shows it was filed and referred to Banking and Insurance on Feb. 14, 2025, with no later action. In 2026 it returned as Senate Bill 143, 'Inflation Protection Act of 2026'; the page shows it was introduced and referred to Banking and Insurance on Jan. 14, 2026, with no later action. As introduced, SB 143 caps combined holdings of precious metals, digital assets and stablecoins at 10% of the public funds in an account at the time of purchase, defines eligible digital assets as those whose average market capitalization exceeded $750 billion in the prior calendar year (press notes this means bitcoin only), requires custody through the Treasurer's secure custody solution, a qualified custodian or a registered exchange-traded product, and permits staking and lending under Treasurer rules. We found no committee hearing or vote on either bill. Other 2026 bills' histories show the session's final legislative action on March 14, 2026, so neither reserve bill advanced into law. West Virginia has no enacted state bitcoin reserve that we found.

Sources: WV Legislature: SB 143 (2026) history, WV Legislature: SB 143 (2026) introduced text, WV Legislature: SB 465 (2025) history, WV Legislature: SB 465 (2025) introduced text, Cointelegraph: 2025 bill (Feb 14, 2025), Bitcoin Laws: West Virginia (lists SB465 as strategic reserve bill)

Licensing Confirmed

Money transmission in West Virginia is licensed by the Commissioner of Financial Institutions (Division of Financial Institutions) under W. Va. Code Chapter 32A, Article 2, with applications handled through NMLS. House Bill 5353 (2026) amended §32A-2-1, -4, -17 and -27 and added §32A-2-8c: it adds owning or operating a virtual currency kiosk to the definition of money transmission, adds definitions for 'virtual currency,' 'virtual currency business activity' and 'virtual currency kiosk operator,' lets kiosk locations act as delegates of a licensee, and sets the Commissioner's decision window on original licenses at 120 days of a complete application. Kiosk receipts must carry the Division's name and phone number. We have not confirmed from the code whether West Virginia's licensing law already treated other virtual currency activity (for example, exchange or custody without a kiosk) as money transmission before 2026, and we did not find a Division guidance page on virtual currency. Senate Bill 887 (2026), a companion on money transmission licensing, was reported from committee Feb. 19, 2026 and sent to Finance without further recorded action.

Sources: WV Legislature: HB 5353 (2026) committee substitute text, WV Legislature: HB 5353 (2026) enrolled text, WV Legislature: SB 887 (2026) history, WV Code Article 32A-2

Crypto kiosks (ATMs) Confirmed

House Bill 5353 (2026), lead sponsor Del. Criss with Delegates Fehrenbacher and Riley, brings virtual currency kiosks under money transmission licensing. The Legislature's page shows it introduced Feb. 9, 2026, passed the House Mar. 4 and the Senate (with an amendment) Mar. 13, with House concurrence on Mar. 14, 2026; it is effective from passage (Mar. 14, 2026), was sent to the Governor Mar. 25, approved Apr. 1, 2026, and is Chapter 58 of the 2026 Acts. Key terms from the bill text: existing kiosk operators must apply through NMLS within 90 days of the section's effective date (about June 12, 2026 by our count); daily limits of $1,000 for new customers (registered 10 days or fewer) and $10,000 for existing customers; total fees and commissions capped at 15% of the transaction; full refunds for a new customer's fraudulent transactions in the first 10 days if the customer reports to the licensee and a government or law enforcement agency within 30 days of the last such transaction; risk and irreversibility disclosures; ID verification; blockchain analysis to block high-risk or sanctioned wallets; live phone support during kiosk hours; a chief compliance officer; quarterly location reporting; and added protections for customers 60 and older, including holds of up to 72 hours. The text we read has no specific penalty clause for kiosk operators. An Orrick summary describes a different effective-date wording than the Legislature's bill page; we relied on the bill page.

Sources: WV Legislature: HB 5353 (2026) history, WV Legislature: HB 5353 committee substitute text, Orrick: West Virginia enacts kiosk law (Apr 16, 2026), West Virginia Watch: Morrisey signs crypto ATM legislation

Industry groups (non-governmental)

• West Virginia Blockchain Foundation (WVBF): Organized the West Virginia Digital Innovation Policy Briefing at the State Capitol, in partnership with The Digital Chamber and Stand With Crypto (event held in summer 2026, per an Aug. 15, 2026 report). The report names Shekinah Apedo as executive director. Topics included stablecoins and crypto ATM protections in the 2026 session. We did not find a WVBF website or membership information, and it is not among the known North American Blockchain Association members; we found no source saying it has joined.

Sources: Event listing: West Virginia Digital Innovation Policy Briefing, Report on the briefing (Aug 15, 2026)

Other 2025 to 2026 actions

• 2026-04-01: Gov. Patrick Morrisey approved HB 5353, West Virginia's crypto kiosk licensing and consumer-protection law (effective from passage on Mar. 14, 2026; Chapter 58, 2026 Acts). It was the main enacted crypto-specific measure of the 2026 regular session we could confirm from the Legislature's pages.
• 2026-02-25: The Senate passed SB 560, the Financial Accountability Stable Token Act (Sens. Helton, Rose, Barrett, Willis), about two weeks before the session ended on Mar. 14; it was sent to House Finance on Feb. 26 and shows no later action. It would let the State Treasurer authorize U.S.-issued, fully reserved stable tokens that the state could voluntarily use to pay vendors and contractors. A House companion, HB 5461 (Del. Leavitt and ten others), stayed in House Judiciary after Feb. 12. Neither is law as far as the pages we read show.
• 2026-08-15: A local report (published Aug. 15, 2026) on a West Virginia Blockchain Foundation briefing at the State Capitol says four blockchain and digital-asset bills were introduced in 2026 and two passed: the crypto ATM law and a Decentralized Unincorporated Nonprofit Association (DUNA) Act sponsored by Del. Tristan Leavitt. We have not confirmed the DUNA bill number or text; the report's link points to SB 670, which the Legislature's page shows is the Uniform Protected Series Act, so the DUNA citation needs separate verification. Searches also turned up no 2026 West Virginia bill on bitcoin mining rights, self-custody or a central bank digital currency ban; we have not confirmed that none was filed.

Sources: WV Legislature: HB 5353 (2026) history, WV Legislature: SB 560 (2026) history, WV Legislature: SB 560 committee substitute text, WV Legislature: HB 5461 (2026) history, Report on the digital innovation briefing and DUNA law (Aug 15, 2026), WV Legislature: SB 670 (2026), Uniform Protected Series Act (not DUNA)

Source notes: Bill-status pages were read in November 2026; the Legislature's page shows an Acts entry date for HB 5353 of 08/13/26 that appears inconsistent with the April 1 approval. No West Virginia task force was found, and the DUNA Act citation is unverified. The Division of Financial Institutions website and the Treasurer's crypto policy position were not reached, so any administrative guidance on virtual currency has not been checked.