Mississippi (MS): Bitcoin and virtual-currency law
Document text
Research, not advice. Part of the Bitcoin research archive (October 2026). Claims labelled unverified, contested or fringe are reported, not endorsed; statuses of bills and rules are as of the date checked. Government, court and patent records are public domain; the research notes are CC BY 4.0.
Mississippi (MS): Bitcoin and virtual-currency law
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Jurisdiction | US state: Mississippi |
| Date checked | 2026-10-09 |
| Main regulator | Department of Banking and Consumer Finance (DBCF) |
| Money-transmitter law | Mississippi Money Transmission Modernization Act, Miss. Code § 75-16-1 et seq., effective 2025-07-01 (CSBS: Full MTMA, Virtual Currency Title: No; CSBS). It replaced the older Money Transmitters Act (§ 75-15). |
| Virtual currency covered? | Kiosks: yes, expressly, since 2026. Other virtual-currency activity: not determined in this pass (gap). |
| UMSA? / URVCBA? | No / No |
| Crypto ATM / kiosk law | Yes. HB 1625 (2026), "Mississippi Virtual Currency Kiosk Consumer Protection Act", approved by the Governor 2026-04-08: operators must be licensed under the MTMA; limits of $1,000 per day for new and $7,500 per day for existing customers; a 96-hour hold on a new customer's first transaction with a refund on request; $5,000 cap in a new customer's first 14 days; fraud-screening questions by 2027-01-01. |
Summary
Mississippi regulated kiosks in 2026 rather than banning them:
- Kiosk operators must hold an MTMA money-transmitter licence.
- New customers face a 96-hour hold on their first transaction, which they can cancel for a full refund.
- New customers are limited to $1,000 per day and $5,000 in their first 14 days. Existing customers are limited to $7,500 per day.
- Kiosks must ask fraud-screening questions, block the transaction if the answers indicate fraud, and collect no fee in that case.
A companion law (HB 1596) adds data-security requirements for all MTMA licensees. Other 2026 bills died:
- HB 1264 and SB 2709 (rival kiosk bills);
- SB 2715 (MTMA revisions);
- HB 551 (a CBDC ban).
A 2025 "Blockchain Basics Act" (HB 1590) and a 2023 "Digital Asset Mining Act" (HB 848) also died.
1. Money-transmitter licensing and virtual currency
- Miss. Code § 75-16-1 et seq. (MTMA), effective 2025-07-01 per CSBS.
- HB 1625 (2026) applies the MTMA to kiosks: "A virtual currency kiosk operator shall comply with all requirements of a money transmitter and shall be subject to the provisions of the Money Transmission Modernization Act, including all duties, requirements and fees imposed on licensees, and the Mississippi Department of Banking and Consumer Finance shall exercise all power and authority" (signed text, saved).
- The DBCF's general view on virtual-currency exchanges and custody was not retrieved (gap).
2. Virtual-currency-specific statutes and guidance
| Bill | Subject | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| HB 1625 (2026) | Mississippi Virtual Currency Kiosk Consumer Protection Act | Approved by Governor 2026-04-08; effective July 1 per ATM Marketplace (effective-date section not checked) | bill history XML; signed text (saved) |
| HB 1596 (2026) | MTMA licensees must implement customer-information safeguards and customer protections | Approved by Governor 2026-04-08 | history XML |
3. Crypto ATM / kiosk law
HB 1625 (2026), signed text, Sections 5–7:
- Licence under the MTMA (Section 2).
- Disclosures and receipts: fees shown as a dollar amount and a percentage, tax collected, the refund policy and how to request a refund, and DBCF contact details.
- Fraud-screening questions, for example: "Are you sending this money to someone threatening you ... with arrest, fines, fees, a lawsuit, foreclosure or repossession?" If the answers indicate fraud, the kiosk must show a "Fraud Warning", tell the customer to contact local law enforcement, and collect no fees or funds. Operators must implement this by 2027-01-01 (Section 5).
- Limits (Section 7):
- "$1,000.00 per day ... for new customers and $7,500.00 per day ... for existing customers".
- A 96-hour holding period on a new customer's first transaction, after which daily transactions may resume.
- "The transaction limit for new customers shall not exceed $5,000.00 ... in the fourteen-day period after the first" transaction.
- Refund: "a refund of the full amount of the transaction if requested by the customer within the initial ninety-six-hour holding period".
- Discrepancy: ATM Marketplace described the new-customer cap as $5,000 "in the thirty (30) days period" (ATM Marketplace). The signed text says fourteen days; we follow the signed text. It may reflect a late amendment.
- AARP Mississippi praised the law (PR Newswire via StreetInsider headline; not retrieved).
4. Tax treatment
No Mississippi DOR crypto guidance was retrieved (gap).
5. Notable enforcement
None retrieved (gap). Mississippi is a participating state (Appendix A); its share of the $2.2M administrative penalty is $14,370.09 (Appendix B) Coinme consent order, App. A–B (completeness check, 2026-10-09).
6. Bills
Statuses come from billstatus.ls.state.ms.us history XML files, checked 2026-10-09.
| Bill | Subject | Status |
|---|---|---|
| HB 1625 (2026) | Kiosk act | Approved 2026-04-08 |
| HB 1596 (2026) | MTMA data security | Approved 2026-04-08 |
| HB 1264 (2026) | "Virtual Currency Kiosk Consumer Access and Protection Act" | Died in committee, 2026-02-03 |
| SB 2709 (2026) | "Money Transmission Modernization Act for Virtual Currency Kiosks" plus civil forfeiture | Died in committee, 2026-02-03 |
| SB 2715 (2026) | Revise the MTMA | Died on calendar, 2026-02-12 |
| HB 551 (2026) | Ban governmental use of a central bank digital currency | Died in committee, 2026-02-03 (per tracker) |
| HB 1590 (2025) | "Blockchain Basics Act" | Died in committee, 2025-02-04 |
| HB 848 (2023) | "Mississippi Digital Asset Mining Act" | Tabled, 2023-02-09 |
Pending: none. The 2027 session begins in January 2027.
7. Contested and fringe claims
- "Mississippi legalizes bitcoin mining." In 2023 crypto media (Blockworks, CryptoDaily) reported a Senate-passed bill to "legalize" bitcoin mining in residential and industrial areas. We found no enacted mining law. The House version, HB 848, was tabled, and the Senate bill's fate was not retrieved. Treat claims that Mississippi "legalized mining" as unverified or overstated; mining was never illegal.
- "Blockchain Basics Act." This model bill, promoted by advocacy groups, died in 2025.
Saved sources (sources/states/ms/)
See sources/states/ms/INDEX.md.
Gaps
- The DBCF's virtual-currency licensing position.
- The 2023 Senate mining bill's number and fate.
- HB 1625's effective-date section.
- DOR guidance.