Massachusetts (MA): Bitcoin and virtual-currency law

Summary

Massachusetts is the clearest example in this group of municipal action outrunning the state:

• No statewide kiosk statute. The Senate voted to ban kiosks in July 2026. The provision sat with a six-member conference committee on the economic development bill, and as of early October 2026 local reporting says the legislature "has not passed any bills" on the issue.
• Local bans. Towns and cities are banning kiosks on their own: Ipswich, Gloucester, Revere, Westfield, Longmeadow, Agawam and Dennis, among others. The AG's Municipal Law Unit has approved 19 town bylaws.
• AG lawsuit. On 2026-02-03 AG Andrea Joy Campbell sued Bitcoin Depot, alleging it facilitated scams costing Massachusetts consumers more than $10M.
• New licensing law. Massachusetts gained a general money-transmitter licence only recently (c. 169B, 2025–2026), and it does not name virtual currency.
• Reserve bills. "Bitcoin strategic reserve" and "stable digital financial asset" investment bills were heard. One (H.5255) was reported favourably to House Ways and Means; none passed.

1. Money-transmitter licensing and virtual currency

• Acts 2024, c. 312 (session law, saved):
• Inserts G.L. c. 169B, an MTMA-style law with NMLS licensing, a requirement to promote uniformity with other enacting states, and cease-and-desist powers.
• Existing c. 169 and c. 167F licences continue until renewal under c. 169B.
• Section 6: "Sections 1 and 2 and 4 to 11, inclusive, of chapter 169B ... shall take effect 9 months after the effective date of this act."
• Signed "Approved, January 1, 2025".
• Virtual currency: not expressly included. Whether the DOB treats virtual-currency exchange or custody as licensable under c. 169B is unverified. mass.gov returned HTTP 403 to automated requests, so DOB guidance was not retrieved.
• Commentary: Law360's "Mass. Law Shows Patchwork Money Transfer Rules Persist" discusses the new law (Law360; paywalled, not retrieved).

2. Virtual-currency-specific statutes and guidance

None enacted. See the bills in section 6.

3. Crypto ATM / kiosk law

• No statewide law. AARP lists Massachusetts as "Bill introduced" (AARP data).
• S.3048, "An Act to stop cryptocurrency ATM misuse ('SCAM' Act)" (2026). A new draft of S.707 (Cronin and others) and S.757 (Finegold). Section 2(a): "A virtual currency kiosk operator may not operate a virtual currency kiosk in the commonwealth of Massachusetts." Violations would breach G.L. c. 93A § 2, enforced by the AG.
• Status: reported favourably by Financial Services and referred to Senate Ways and Means on 2026-04-15 (bill history; bill page saved).
• Economic development bill amendment: "The Senate added an amendment to its sweeping economic development bill passed last night to effectively ban the kiosks" (WBUR, 2026-07-24).
• Similar House amendments did not make the House's version.
• "Leaving a six-member conference committee to decide whether the provision survives" (Yahoo/Boston Globe summary).
• Status unverified. As of 2026-10-05, the Cape Cod Times reported the state legislature "has not passed any bills regarding the growing problem" (Yahoo/Cape Cod Times).
• H.1247 / H.1089 / S.804 (regulatory approaches):
• H.1247 ("preventing fraud and establishing regulations on certain virtual currencies") was recommended "ought to pass" and referred to House Ways and Means on 2026-02-09.
• H.1089 and S.804 (kiosk operator regulation and reporting) went to study.
• Local bans:
• About 20 communities, including Ipswich, Gloucester, Revere, Westfield and Longmeadow (Yahoo/Boston Globe).
• Agawam: city council; kiosks to be removed within 90 days (ATM Marketplace).
• Dennis: town meeting, October 2026, the first on Cape Cod.
• The AG's Municipal Law Unit "has issued 19 decisions approving bylaws banning cryptocurrency kiosks in towns". It reviews town bylaws, not city ordinances.
• Losses: FBI data show 296 Massachusetts kiosk-scam complaints in 2025 with $6,834,561 in reported losses (WBUR).

4. Tax treatment

No Department of Revenue crypto guidance was retrieved (gap).

5. Notable enforcement

6. Bills, 194th General Court (2025–2026)

Statuses come from malegislature.gov bill histories, checked 2026-10-09. Formal sessions ended 2026-07-31. Informal sessions continue to the end of the term (January 2027), so a conference report could still be acted on.

7. Contested and fringe claims

• Ban versus regulation. Norfolk County Sheriff Patrick McDermott says Massachusetts has "become a central location for an unregulated market" and that "we can't really do anything shy of shutting these things down immediately" (WBUR). Kiosk operators argue bans do not stop scams, which move to other channels (Yahoo/Boston Globe).
• "Deep blue bitcoin reserve." Crypto media framed S.1967 as Massachusetts possibly becoming the first Democratic-led state to build a bitcoin reserve (Yahoo/crypto outlet). The bill was sent to study, which usually means it is dead.

Saved sources (sources/states/ma/)

See sources/states/ma/INDEX.md.

Gaps

• mass.gov blocked automated access, so the following were not retrieved:
• DOB guidance on virtual currency;
• the AG's complaint against Bitcoin Depot;
• DOR guidance.
• Final status of the 2026 economic development bill's kiosk provision.
• The online General Laws did not yet show c. 169B (404), so the session-law text is the source.