South Carolina is now one among greater than a dozen US states which have handed legal guidelines defending cryptocurrency rights — and it did so with virtually no pushback.
Governor Henry McMaster signed Senate Invoice 163 on Could 19, including it to a rising stack of state-level digital asset legal guidelines which have quietly moved by Republican-controlled legislatures throughout the nation.
A Close to-Unanimous Vote That Indicators Shifting Floor
The invoice cleared the South Carolina Senate 38-1, a margin that claims greater than the regulation itself. Filed in January 2025, it spent 17 months working by the legislative course of — passing the Senate in Could of that 12 months, getting reconciled with Home amendments in April 2026, and touchdown on the governor’s desk this month.
Senators Daniel Verdin and Matthew Leber sponsored the invoice. It now provides a brand new Chapter 47 to Title 34 of the South Carolina Code of Legal guidelines, laying out one of many extra detailed state-level crypto frameworks within the nation.
The regulation prohibits state authorities companies from accepting or requiring funds in a central financial institution digital forex. It additionally bars these companies from becoming a member of any Federal Reserve CBDC pilot or testing program.
However the definition issues: the invoice describes a CBDC as a digital forex issued instantly by the US Federal Reserve or a federal company. Privately issued stablecoins backed by authorized tender or authorities treasuries — resembling USDC — fall outdoors that definition and stay permitted underneath state regulation.
What The Legislation Truly Covers
Past the CBDC ban, S.163 covers a variety of crypto exercise. People and companies are protected against being blocked from accepting digital property as fee for authorized items and providers.
Self-hosted and {hardware} wallets are formally acknowledged, permitting customers to carry their very own property with out authorities interference. State and native governments are additionally barred from taxing digital asset funds at increased charges than different fee sorts.
The regulation’s definition of digital property is broad, overlaying cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, fungible tokens, non-fungible tokens, and different digital-only property that carry financial, proprietary, or entry rights.
Crypto mining operations additionally get authorized cowl. Native governments can’t impose unfair zoning guidelines, extreme noise restrictions, or rules that single out mining companies.
Node operations, blockchain software program improvement, staking providers, and mining actions are exempt from cash transmitter license necessities underneath sure circumstances.
Staking-as-a-service and mining-as-a-service suppliers won’t robotically be categorised as securities issuers underneath state regulation.
On the similar time, the South Carolina Legal professional Basic retains authority to prosecute fraud involving anybody who falsely claims to supply these providers — a shopper safety measure constructed instantly into the regulation.
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