Order Number MSD-19003 — Virtual Currency and Automated Machines

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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.

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                                    STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA

                              OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

                                    MONEY SERVICES DIVISION

                                     ORDER NUMBER MSD-19003

                     VIRTUAL CURRENCY AND AUTOMATED MACHINES

  WHEREAS, the South Carolina Attorney General is the Commissioner tasked with enforcing the South
Carolina Anti-Money Laundering Act (the "Act"); and

  WHEREAS, S.C. Code Ann. § 35-11-815 grants the Commissioner the authority to issue orders to
assist licensees in interpreting and complying with the Act; and

   WHEREAS, the Money Services Division of the South Carolina Attorney General's Office (the
"Division") has previously issued guidance in the form of a letter dated December 5, 2018, stating that
virtual currencies lack the characteristics of mediums of exchange, and that virtual currencies alone do not
qualify as monetary value. The letter further states that virtual currency transactions that also involve the
transfer of fiat currency may be subject to money transmission regulation under the Act; and

  WHEREAS, the Division continues to receive licensing inquiries regarding the use of virtual currencies
or cryptocurrencies and automated machines ("ATMs"); and

  WHEREAS, the Commissioner finds that this order is necessary to further assist licensees in
interpreting and complying with the Act;

  NOW THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that:

  A. The exchange of virtual currency for fiat currency through an ATM that acts as a third party
exchanger that facilitates contemporaneous exchanges of virtual currency for fiat currency, such as where
the operator of the ATM receives the buyer's fiat currency in exchange for a promise to make it available
to the seller, is money transmission and requires a license under the Act.

  B.   When an ATM does not act as a third party, and only facilitates a sale or purchase of virtual
currency by the ATM operator directly with the customer, there is no money transmission because at no
time is fiat currency received in exchange for a promise to make it available at a later time or different
location, and therefore no license is required under the Act.

IT IS SO ORDERED,

         ^ Date                                                  Alan Wilson, Commissioner