Crypto ATM laws in North Carolina: a guide for operators (2026)

Licensing in North Carolina

From 2027-01-01 anyone who owns, operates, solicits, markets, advertises or facilitates kiosks needs a money transmitter license under Article 16B (North Carolina Money Transmitters Act, 2016), supervised by the Commissioner of Banks; the act refers to NMLS.

Regulator: North Carolina Office of the Commissioner of Banks · License: Money transmitter license

Sources: N.C. S.L. 2026-45 (HB 920) · N.C.G.S. Ch. 53, Art. 16B

North Carolina's kiosk law

Virtual Currency Kiosk Consumer Protection Act (S.L. 2026-45) · effective 2027-01-01. From January 1, 2027: license, daily limits, a 12% cap, an interactive fraud screen, 48-hour holds for new customers and quarterly location reports.

• Anyone who owns, operates, markets or facilitates kiosks in North Carolina needs a money transmitter license.
• $2,000 a day for a new customer (no prior transactions, or a first one in the last 30 days) and $5,000 a day for an existing customer.
• Aggregate fees and charges capped at 12% of the dollar value.
• A 48-hour hold on transactions by customers whose first transaction was in the last 7 days; an interactive fraud screen that ends the transaction if the warning applies and can't be bypassed.
• Full refund for a new customer, or a refund of your fees for an existing one, when the customer reported to the Commissioner within 30 days and the Commissioner found fraud.
• Live customer service whenever kiosks are available; a full-time compliance officer and a full-time consumer protection officer; physical receipts unless the customer asks for electronic.

Sources: N.C. Session Law 2026-45 (H920), legislative summary

Also in the law, and recent changes

• No QR-code, barcode or other scan-based login to an account, wallet or transaction screen (G.S. 53-447); customers authenticate by manual entry, and cameras or optical readers must be disabled or blocked unless approved for ID verification.
• Before each transaction, disclose all fees and charges, the exchange rate, the spread and any customer liability.

Sources: N.C. S.L. 2026-45

Practical hurdles

• The QR-code ban may require hardware or software changes: many kiosks use phone QR codes for wallet addresses or logins.
• Scam pressure context: FBI IC3 counted 491 crypto-kiosk complaints from this state in 2025 with $12,616,653 in adjusted losses (FBI notes losses may include non-kiosk transactions).

What we couldn't confirm

• Whether the QR ban covers scanning a destination wallet address (it names login/authentication; read the full section).
• MTMA: Article 16B dates from 2016; we did not check for later MTMA amendments.