Сrypto is legal in the US, but some regulation aspects are still uncertain. According to the information we have, every regulator in the US currently has its separate crypto policy. Arguably, the most famous crypto regulator in the world is The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) (16) and its chairman, Gary Gensler. Previously the SEC had position, that any cryptocurrency other than Bitcoin is a security.
The comission had detained approval of Bitcoin ETF for a long time - in 2022 (17) it has rejected Grayscale's application to convert private investment fund - Grayscale trust into Bitcoin ETF. After that the company has started a trial against the SEC and won the court case (18) in October 2023. After that the SEC has changed its position to Bitcoin ETFs and 10th January 2024 SEC took historical decision (19) to approve 11 applications to Bitcoin ETF. This was a great push for Bitcoin's bullrun - from $27,000 in October 2023 to $73,000 in March 2024.
Later in 2024, the SEC also approved (20) the Ethereum ETF and officially claimed, that it no longer considers Ethereum as a security. Still, the SEC tries to interpret more and more cryptocurrencies as securities as it did in the case of Coinbase and Binance lawsuits. Other legal bodies in the US define crypto as property/commodity. There are several regulatory bodies on the federal level, including:
Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) is responsible for licensing VASPs and AML regulations. It treats cryptocurrency as money.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is responsible for commodities and treats crypto in that way;
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) regulates the taxation of digital assets and qualifies them as property;
Other regulators include the Department of Justice (DOJ), The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), and others.
As mentioned above, the regulatory confusion should be resolved by a new federal law, The Financial Innovation and Technology for the 21st Century Act (FIT21). The law determines which cryptocurrency companies are regulated by the SEC and which are regulated by the CFTC. It was approved (21) by Congress in May 2024. But the Senate has postponed voting on the bill after the US Presidential Election. Also, the House has canceled (22) the SEC's SAB 121 resolution, which obligates banks to report their crypto savings to the SEC. Unfortunately, President Biden vetoed this decision, and it's still in force.
Two other legislation packages, that can influence on crypto regulation in the US and still weren't voted in 2024 are the Stablecoin Act and Bitcoin bill. Since both of them are mostly supported by Republicans (also as FIT21), they have great chances to be approved after Trump's victory,
Until FIT21 is passed, the main types of licenses for transactions with cryptocurrencies operating in the U.S. are issued by another regulator—FinCEN. In 2013, it allowed virtual currency exchange and concluded (23) that the company needed a money transmitter license for this activity. This was the first licensing requirement for cryptocurrency transactions in the United States.
An administrator or exchanger that accepts and transmits a convertible virtual
currency or buys or sells convertible virtual currency for any reason is a money transmitter under FinCEN’s regulations, unless a limitation to or exemption from the definition applies to the person.
FinCEN’s regulations define the term “money transmitter” as a person that
provides money transmission services, or any other person engaged in the transfer of funds. The term “money transmission services” means “the acceptance of currency, funds, or other value that substitutes for currency from one person and the transmission of currency, funds, or other value that substitutes for currency to another location or person by any means.”
Quote from FINCEN notice (2013)
The main requirement for most crypto entities in the country in 2024 is still to get FinCEN registration. Here is a guide about MSB FINCEN registration (24) and the IRS MSB registration guide (25).
Shortly, any crypto entity needs to get MSB registration and a local state Money Transmitter License (MTL) where it operates. If an entity has 5+ licenses, it can join the Multistate MSB Licensing Agreement Program (MLAP) and automatically get licenses in other states. According to Sia Partners review (26), this heat map shows MTL license requirements in March of 2020.
In this register (27) from FINCEN, you may check the status of MSB/MTL licensed entities.
You may see below the spreadsheet with different types of licenses. Derivatives are regulated by the CFTC and securities - SEC.
| tag | Type of license (federal) |
| #cryptotocrypto | Money Transmitter license on the state level and MSB registration on the federal |
| #cryptotofiat | Money Transmitter license on the state level and MSB registration on the federal |
| #wallet/custodian | Money Transmitter license on the state level and MSB registration on the federal |
| #cryptofund | SEC registration |
| #DAO | Local permits from the states of Delaware, Arizona |
| #Tokensale of securities/ICO | SEC registration |
Local crypto regulations in the US are complicated since they differ in each state. In this basic version, we haven’t provided a detailed overview. However, you may check these guides by ProeliumLaw (28) and Sia Partners (29).
