Crypto ATM laws in South Carolina: a guide for operators (2026)
South Carolina has no kiosk law; a kiosk bill (H. 4592) died in committee. Its money services law is enforced by the Attorney General's office.
No kiosk-specific law · Last checked
Esta guía todavía está solo en inglés.
Licensing in South Carolina
Money transmission is licensed under the South Carolina Uniform Money Services Act (S.C. Code Title 35, ch. 11, rewritten by 2024 Act No. 218, S.1031, effective 2024-07-02). The 'Commissioner' is the South Carolina Attorney General. 'Money transmission' includes 'receiving money for transmission', and 'money' means government-issued currency. we found no statute text or AG guidance stating whether a kiosk selling BTC for cash needs a license. 2026's S. 163 (signed 2026-05-19, per secondary sources) exempts mining, node operation, software development and 'exchanging one digital asset for another' from money transmitter licensing. That does not obviously cover cash-to-crypto kiosks.
Regulator: South Carolina Attorney General (as Commissioner under the Uniform Money Services Act) · License: Money transmitter license (crypto treatment unclear)
Sources: S.C. Code Title 35 ch. 11 (definitions of money, monetary value, money transmission) · 2024 Act No. 218 (S.1031), advance sheet text · SC AG: Uniform Money Services Act as of 2024-07-02 · Orrick InfoBytes 2026-06-05 on S. 163 (secondary)
Kiosk-specific rules
South Carolina has no law written specifically for crypto ATMs as of 2026-10-28. The general money transmission rules above and the federal rules still apply.
Bills and changes to watch
- H. 4592 'Vending of Digital Assets' (Reps. Guffey, B. Newton, Pope): would require an MTL, a scam warning, daily caps of $2,000 for new customers (under 7 days) and $10,500 for existing customers, full refunds of a first transaction sent abroad if fraud is reported within 60 days (paid within 72 hours), and receipts. It was referred to House Labor, Commerce and Industry on 2026-01-13 with no further action shown, so it was apparently not enacted in the 2025-2026 session.
Sources: SC Legislature, H. 4592
What we couldn't confirm
- Whether South Carolina requires an MTL for cash-to-BTC kiosk sales: there is no explicit statute or guidance, and the definition turns on 'receiving money for transmission'.
- That 2024 Act No. 218 is the MTMA. It uses MTMA terms ('average daily money transmission liability', 'MSB-accredited state') but we didn't see it labelled as the MTMA.
- NMLS use, bond and net worth (not checked).
- The full text of S. 163 (2026); we relied on Orrick's summary.
- Any SC AG action or local ordinance against kiosks: none found.
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