District of Columbia — Bitcoin and virtual-currency law

Bitcoin Research — Law, Regulation, Markets & Origins (2026)

Legislation

2026-10-09

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.

District of Columbia — Bitcoin and virtual-currency law

  • Jurisdiction: District of Columbia (US)
  • Date checked: 2026-10-09 (all statuses below were checked on this date unless another date is given)
  • Regulators: Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking (DISB; money transmitters); Office of the Attorney General (OAG; consumer protection) — Attorney General Brian L. Schwalb
  • Legislature: Council of the District of Columbia, Council Period 26 (2025–2026); DC acts are subject to congressional review.
  • Saved primary sources: sources/states/dc/ (see sources/states/dc/INDEX.md)

At a glance

Topic DC position Key cite Status (checked 2026-10-09)
Money-transmitter licence for Bitcoin Yes. DISB: transactions involving Bitcoin and other virtual currencies "are considered money transmission," whether online or via kiosks; a federal court held Bitcoin is "money" under DC's Money Transmitters Act DISB Notice 24-BB-001 (2024-08-09); United States v. Harmon, D.D.C. 2020; D.C. Code § 26-1001 et seq. In force [S1][S2][S3]
Penalty for unlicensed transmission Felony: fine up to $25,000, up to 5 years, or both D.C. Code § 26-1023(c) (as cited by DISB) [S2]
Model law Not an MTMA jurisdiction (CSBS) CSBS [S6]
Crypto ATMs / kiosks No kiosk-specific statute found; DISB requires a money-transmitter licence for kiosk operators and says it is "actively investigating" DISB notices 2022–2024 In force [S1][S2]
Enforcement District of Columbia v. Athena Bitcoin, Inc. (D.C. Superior Court, filed 2025-09-02): AG alleges 93% of deposits in Athena's DC kiosks in its first five months were fraud, median victim age 71, hidden fees/markups up to ~25% Complaint under the Consumer Protection Procedures Act and Financial Exploitation Act Pending (current posture unverified) [S4]
UCC UCC Amendment Act of 2024 — new Article 12 (controllable electronic records) B 5 (2024) Enacted 2024 [S5]
Tax No DC Office of Tax and Revenue crypto guidance found (gap) — —

1. Money-transmitter licensing of virtual currency

  • DISB Notice 24-BB-001-08/09/24 (Commissioner Karima M. Woods, 2024-08-09; saved) — "Updated DISB Guidance to Bitcoin ATMs (BTMs) or Virtual Currency Kiosks Operators in the District": a money-transmission licence is required for entities operating BTMs or kiosks that transfer money with Bitcoin or other virtual currency. "DISB maintains its position that transactions involving Bitcoin and other virtual currencies are considered money transmission (See United States v. Larry Dean Harmon, 474 F.Supp.3d 76 (D.D.C. 2020))." Key factors: (1) custody and control — any retention, even briefly; (2) direct exchange cash-to-crypto with immediate delivery is still money transmission; (3) kiosks facilitating transactions with third parties; (4) over-the-counter exchanges. Applications go through NMLS; DISB is "actively investigating and monitoring." This notice replaces Bulletin 22-BB-001 (2022-08-04) and Notice 23-BB-04 (2023-03-16). [S1]
  • Earlier position (superseded): Notice 23-BB-04 (2023-03-16; saved) said operating BTMs without a licence violates D.C. Code § 26-1002 and can be prosecuted as a felony under § 26-1023(c) (fine up to $25,000, up to five years) — but also said DISB did not view a business that simply buys and sells Bitcoin directly with consumers for cash as money transmission. The 2024 notice reversed that carve-out for direct exchanges. [S2][S1]
  • Court: United States v. Harmon, Crim. No. 19-395 (BAH), Memorandum Opinion of Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell, 2020-07-24 (saved): the court addressed "two novel questions: Is bitcoin 'money' for purposes of the District of Columbia's MTA?" and concluded "bitcoin is money under the MTA," so operating the Helix bitcoin mixer without a DC licence could be charged under D.C. Code § 26-1023(c). [S3]
  • CSBS: DC has not enacted the MTMA. [S6]

2. Virtual-currency-specific statutes

  • B 5 / "Uniform Commercial Code Amendment Act of 2024" — adds UCC Article 12 (controllable electronic records) covering digital assets including cryptocurrency (NCSL summary). [S5]
  • No other DC statute specific to Bitcoin was found (gap).

3. Crypto ATM / kiosk law

  • No DC kiosk consumer-protection statute (limits, fee caps, refunds) was found in sources checked; NCSL's 2025 and 2026 lists show no DC crypto bills. [S5] (A search of the DC Council's LIMS was not possible in this check — gap.)
  • DISB requires a money-transmitter licence for kiosk operators (2024 notice) and has published consumer alerts ("Beware of Virtual Currency Kiosks 'Bitcoin ATMs'"). [S1][N1]

4. Tax treatment

  • DC individual income tax starts from federal AGI (general knowledge; unverified). No DC Office of Tax and Revenue guidance on virtual currency was found (gap).

5. Notable enforcement

District of Columbia v. Athena Bitcoin, Inc. (D.C. Superior Court, Civil Division)

  • Filed 2025-09-02 by the Office of the Attorney General (complaint saved). Claims under the Consumer Protection Procedures Act (D.C. Code § 28-3901 et seq.) and the Abuse, Neglect, and Financial Exploitation of Vulnerable Adults and the Elderly Act (D.C. Code §§ 22-933.01, 22-937). [S4]
  • Allegations (not findings): "Most deposits to Athena BTMs in the District — 93% during the first five months of operation — are the product of outright fraud"; review of May–September 2024 showed at least 93% of deposits were fraud-linked; median victim age 71; median loss per transaction $8,000; undisclosed markups (one example: Bitcoin at $59,936 marked up 25.4%; fees from 13% on small transactions); Athena allegedly kept fees even from scam victims and did little to stop fraud. Jury trial demanded. [S4]
  • Outcome or current stage of the case was not found (gap).

Federal prosecution tied to DC law

  • United States v. Harmon (D.D.C.) — Helix mixer operator charged with, among other counts, unlicensed money transmission under the DC MTA; the 2020 opinion held Bitcoin is "money" under the MTA. (Harmon later pleaded guilty, per widely reported coverage — unverified here.) [S3]

6. Pending and recently failed bills

  • None found for DC in NCSL's 2024–2026 crypto lists apart from B 5 (enacted 2024). [S5] A LIMS search for Council Period 26 kiosk bills was not done (gap).

7. Contested and fringe claims (flagged, not endorsed)

  • "93% of deposits were scams." This is the Attorney General's allegation from its own analysis; Athena disputes the suit (news coverage reported Athena's denial — not read; unverified). [S4]
  • Is Bitcoin "money"? DC's regulator and a federal judge say yes for the DC MTA; regulators in Texas, Virginia and South Carolina say no under their statutes. [S1][S3] (compare us-state-tx.md, us-state-va.md, us-state-sc.md) Interpretive split across jurisdictions.

Sources

Saved full copies are in sources/states/dc/.

  • [S1] DC DISB, Notice 24-BB-001-08/09/24, "Updated DISB Guidance to Bitcoin ATMs (BTMs) or Virtual Currency Kiosks Operators in the District," 2024-08-09. https://disb.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/perb/publication/attachments/btm_bulletin_update_august_2024_final_kmw.pdf — retrieved 2026-10-09 — saved dc-disb-btm-bulletin-update-2024-08-09.pdf
  • [S2] DC DISB, Notice 23-BB-04-03/16/2023, "DISB to Begin Investigation of Bitcoin ATMs (BTMs)…," 2023-03-16 (superseded). https://disb.dc.gov/sites/default/files/dc/sites/disb/publication/attachments/notice_disb_%20bitcoin_atms_03_16_23.pdf — saved dc-disb-notice-23-bb-04-2023-03-16-bitcoin-atms.pdf
  • [S3] US District Court for the District of Columbia, United States v. Harmon, Crim. No. 19-395 (BAH), Memorandum Opinion, 2020-07-24 (reported at 474 F. Supp. 3d 76). https://ecf.dcd.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/show_public_doc?2019cr0395-59 (found via CourtListener) — saved us-v-harmon-ddc-2019cr395-2020-07-24-memorandum-opinion.pdf
  • [S4] DC Office of the Attorney General, Complaint, District of Columbia v. Athena Bitcoin, Inc., D.C. Superior Court, filed 2025-09-02. https://oag.dc.gov/sites/default/files/2025-09/2025-09-02-Athena-Complaint-FINAL-.pdf — saved dc-oag-2025-09-02-athena-bitcoin-complaint.pdf; press release https://oag.dc.gov/release/attorney-general-schwalb-sues-crypto-atm-operator
  • [S5] NCSL, 2024–2026 cryptocurrency legislation pages (DC: B 5 enacted 2024). https://www.ncsl.org/financial-services/cryptocurrency-digital-or-virtual-currency-and-digital-assets-2024-legislation — read 2026-10-09
  • [S6] CSBS, MTMA State Enactments (PDF dated 2026-10-08). https://www.csbs.org/sites/default/files/external-link-files/10.8.26%20MTMA%20State%20Enactments.pdf
  • [N1] DC DISB, "Beware of Virtual Currency Kiosks 'Bitcoin ATMs'" consumer alert page (title seen in search). https://disb.dc.gov/page/beware-virtual-currency-kiosks-%E2%80%9Cbitcoin-atms%E2%80%9D