Florida (FL): Bitcoin and virtual-currency law

Summary

Florida treats a bitcoin seller as a money transmitter:

• 2019: the Third District Court of Appeal held in State v. Espinoza that a peer-to-peer bitcoin seller could be prosecuted for unlicensed money transmission.
• 2021–2022: the OFR changed its interpretation to match. The legislature then wrote "virtual currency" into the definition of "money transmitter" (HB 273, effective 2023-01-01).
• 2023: Florida excluded central bank digital currency from "money" under its Uniform Commercial Code (SB 7054).
• 2025: HB 999 made gold and silver coin legal tender, effective 2026-07-01.
• 2026: Florida passed:
• a crypto-kiosk registration law (HB 505, effective 2027-01-01);
• a GENIUS Act-aligned state payment-stablecoin licence (HB 175);
• a DFS stablecoin pilot program (SB 1568).

Every 2025 and 2026 bill to put state money into bitcoin or create a "strategic cryptocurrency reserve" died. Florida has no personal income tax, so individuals owe no state tax on bitcoin gains.

1. Money-transmitter licensing and virtual currency

• § 560.103, F.S. (definitions), as now in force (Online Sunshine, saved):
• "Money transmitter" means an entity that "[r]eceives currency, monetary value, a payment instrument, gold coin, silver coin, or virtual currency for the purpose of acting as an intermediary to transmit" it "from one person to another location or person by any means".
• "Monetary value" means "a medium of exchange, other than virtual currency ...". Virtual currency is therefore its own named category.
• "Money services business" now also covers a "virtual currency kiosk business" and a "qualified payment stablecoin issuer".
• OFR history (OFR industry alert, saved):
• For years the OFR licensed only intermediaries transmitting to a third party.
• After Espinoza, the OFR's 2021-08-17 alert said two-party sellers would need licences, and urged them to apply by 2021-12-31.
• CS/HB 273, signed 2022-05-12, rewrote the definition from 2023-01-01. The OFR said it "will strictly enforce the new law as of January 1, 2023."

2. Virtual-currency-specific statutes, guidance and cases

3. Crypto ATM / kiosk law

CS/HB 505 (2026), Ch. 2026-178. Presented to the governor 2026-06-15, approved 2026-06-26, effective 2027-01-01 (bill page; enrolled text, saved). It creates part V of ch. 560, "Virtual Currency Kiosk Businesses":

• Registration: kiosk businesses must register with the OFR and renew annually; some licensed money transmitters are exempt from registration but still bound by the conduct rules. Renewal must include proof of compliance: disclosures, limit reports, receipts, refund records and blockchain analytics.
• Limits (§ 560.505): "$2,000 per calendar day" for a new customer (fewer than 7 days) and "$10,000 per calendar day" for an existing customer.
• Disclosures and warnings: an on-screen STOP warning, among others.
• Fraud controls: blockchain analytics to block transfers to wallets linked to criminal activity, and tracing records.
• Receipts: must include the transaction hash and fees.
• Refund (§ 560.507): "a full refund within 72 hours ... for the customer's first virtual currency transaction" if, within 60 days, the customer notifies the business and a law-enforcement or government agency and provides proof, such as a police report or notarized affidavit.
• No fee cap. A Sun-Sentinel opinion piece complains that kiosks "routinely charge between 9% and 20%, with no limits on the transaction fees" (Sun-Sentinel, 2026-09-24).
• Companion SB 198 was laid on the table in favour of HB 505.
• Flagler County Sheriff's Office (which pushed for the bill): HB 505 passed the House 107–0. A proposed 24-hour transaction hold was dropped (Action News Jax via Yahoo).

4. Tax treatment

• No personal income tax in Florida, so individuals pay no state tax on bitcoin gains. The corporate income tax follows federal taxable income (general facts; DOR guidance not retrieved).
• HB 999 (2025) revised the sales-tax exemption for gold and silver coin. Whether buying bitcoin is subject to sales tax was not checked (unverified).

5. Notable enforcement

6. Bills, 2025 and 2026 sessions

Statuses come from flsenate.gov bill pages, checked 2026-10-09. The 2026 regular session ended 2026-03-13.

Pending: none. The 2027 regular session begins in March 2027.

7. Contested and fringe claims

• "Legal tender" for gold and silver (HB 999). Sound-money advocates promoted this as restoring constitutional money. Critics argue that states cannot make legal tender under Article I, § 10 of the US Constitution, which says no state shall make "any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender". Advocates read that same clause as permitting gold and silver. This is a contested constitutional argument. It does not cover bitcoin.
• Anti-CBDC law (SB 7054, 2023). Supporters say it guards against federal surveillance money. Critics note that no US CBDC exists and the Federal Reserve has disclaimed plans for one. The law is largely symbolic until a CBDC exists.
• Kiosk law "compromise". A Sun-Sentinel op-ed by a local official (author not checked) calls HB 505 "a compromise that the industry ... can live with comfortably". It criticises the refund-only-the-first-transaction rule, the lack of a fee cap and the lack of OFR funding, and urges city bans. The industry and the Flagler Sheriff called the law a "huge win".
• Reserve bills. Supporters cite inflation hedging and the federal Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (Executive Order, March 2025). The bills died without floor votes, and we found no official explanation.

Saved sources (sources/states/fl/)

See sources/states/fl/INDEX.md.

Gaps

• The full Espinoza opinion text (court PDF not reachable).
• OFR crypto enforcement orders.
• Florida DOR crypto guidance.
• ~~Whether Florida joined the Coinme settlement.~~ Resolved: it did (consent order, Appendix A).