Wisconsin — Bitcoin and virtual-currency law

• Jurisdiction: State of Wisconsin (US)
• Date checked: 2026-10-09 (all statuses below were checked on this date unless another date is given)
• Regulator: Department of Financial Institutions (DFI), Division of Banking — Licensed Financial Services; Division of Securities
• Governor: Tony Evers (approved 2025 Act 226)
• Legislature: 2025–2026 session; the last general-business floor period ended in March 2026 — bills not passed failed on 2026-03-23 under Senate Joint Resolution 1.
• Saved primary sources: sources/states/wi/ (see sources/states/wi/INDEX.md)

At a glance

1. Money-transmitter licensing of virtual currency

• DFI Money Transmitter page (saved): "Companies engaged in the business of virtual currency transactions may be subject to Wisconsin's money transmission law, depending on the nature of the transactions and whether fiat currency is involved." Example: a company letting customers use regular currency to buy virtual currency for delivery to a third-party wallet is engaged in money transmission requiring a licence. "Because of the wide variation in business models and fact patterns in this evolving area, however, the Division is unable to provide company-specific 'safe harbor' or 'no action' letters." The page also notes that kiosk operators must be licensed and that fraud victims may get refunds if they report within 30 days. [S2]
• MTMA: CSBS — "Model Money Transmission Modernization Act," Wis. Stat. §§ 217.01 et seq., effective 2025-01-01 (SB 668, 2024 enactment); no virtual-currency title. [S3][S4]

2. Virtual-currency-specific statutes

The definition of "virtual currency" used by § 217.12 cross-references Wis. Stat. § 177.01(16) (unclaimed property). [S1]

3. Crypto ATM / kiosk law

2025 Wisconsin Act 226 (2025 Assembly Bill 968) — creates Wis. Stat. § 217.12 "Virtual currency kiosks." Introduced 2026-01-30; Assembly passed 2026-02-18; Senate passed 33-0 on 2026-03-17; enacted 2026-04-08; published 2026-04-09. With no stated effective date, a Wisconsin act takes effect the day after publication — 2026-04-10 (general rule, Wis. Stat. § 991.11; unverified for this act); the ID rules in sub. (4) apply from the 60th day after that. Full act text saved. [S1][N1]

• (2) Licence: "No person may engage in the business of operating virtual currency kiosks in this state unless the person is licensed under this chapter."
• (3) Warning: printed FRAUD ALERT on the front of each kiosk in at least 20-point type ("IF SOMEONE YOU DON'T KNOW IS ASKING YOU TO SEND VIRTUAL CURRENCY FROM THIS MACHINE, DO NOT PROCEED… NOTICE: Virtual currency may be traded for free in online exchanges."), repeated on screen first and acknowledged by the customer.
• (4) Customer identification: full legal name, date of birth, phone, address, email and a copy of government ID before the first transaction; ID verified and a photograph taken at the kiosk for each transaction; no false or multiple identities. (Applies from the 60th day after the effective date.)
• (5) Location: notify the local law-enforcement agency of each kiosk location before first use; no kiosk within 5 feet of a bank ATM, and no kiosk that also works as an ATM.
• (6)(a) Daily limit: no more than $1,000 in fiat currency per customer per day, across all kiosks.
• (6)(c) Refund: on request, a full refund of the transaction including fees if, within 30 days, the customer told the operator and the Department of Justice, DFI or a law-enforcement agency that the transaction was fraudulent (applies to all customers, not only new ones).
• (7) Live toll-free customer service whenever kiosks are operable; physical and electronic receipts (transaction hash, sender and recipient, fees, exchange rate, refund policy); written anti-fraud policy.
• The text read shows no paragraph (6)(b) and no fee cap (the enacted version appears to have dropped one) (observation from text; verify). [S1]
• News (September 2026, Wisconsin Watch / PBS Wisconsin): the law is helping reduce kiosk scams but critics ask whether it goes far enough. [N2]

4. Tax treatment

• Wisconsin income tax starts from federal AGI (general knowledge; unverified); no Wisconsin Department of Revenue crypto publication was found (gap).

5. Notable enforcement

• No Wisconsin DFI crypto enforcement action was located in this check (gap).

6. Pending and recently failed bills

All failed on 2026-03-23 "pursuant to Senate Joint Resolution 1" (end of the floor period): [S5]

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

• "Virtual currency may be traded for free in online exchanges." Wisconsin's mandatory kiosk warning tells customers this; operators say kiosk fees pay for cash handling, compliance and locations. The statement is a legislative message, not a neutral price comparison (online exchanges also charge fees/spreads). [S1] Contested framing.
• Is $1,000/day enough protection? Wisconsin Watch reported debate over whether the law goes far enough versus outright bans (Indiana, Tennessee, Minnesota). [N2]
• Pension-fund Bitcoin exposure. The State of Wisconsin Investment Board's 2024 ETF purchase drew praise from Bitcoin advocates and criticism from others; the reported 2025 sale was framed by some advocates as a mistake (entire item unverified in this check).

Sources

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

• [S1] Wisconsin Legislature, 2025 Wisconsin Act 226 (AB 968), date of enactment 2026-04-08, publication 2026-04-09. https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/document/acts/2025/226 — retrieved 2026-10-09 — saved wi-2025-act-226-ab968-virtual-currency-kiosks.html; bill history https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2025/proposals/ab968
• [S2] Wisconsin DFI, Money Transmitter page (virtual currency and kiosk statements). https://dfi.wi.gov/Pages/FinancialServices/LicensedFinancial/MoneyTransmitter.aspx — saved wi-dfi-money-transmitter-page.html
• [S3] 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
• [S4] CSBS, MTMA legislative update (August 2026) — "Wisconsin (S.B. 668) Full MTMA introduction. (Effective January 1, 2025)." https://www.csbs.org/mtma-legislative-update-august-2026
• [S5] Wisconsin Legislature bill histories: AB 471, SB 535, AB 892, SB 951 (2025 session). https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/2025/proposals/ab471 (and /sb535, /ab892, /sb951) — read 2026-10-09; NCSL 2026 page https://www.ncsl.org/financial-services/cryptocurrency-digital-or-virtual-currency-and-digital-assets-2026-legislation
• [N1] JD Supra, "Wisconsin enacts regulatory framework for virtual currency kiosks" (headline only). https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/wisconsin-enacts-regulatory-framework-3146847
• [N2] Wisconsin Watch, "Crypto ATM scams have wreaked havoc in Wisconsin. A new law is helping change that — but did it go far enough?," September 2026 (headline only); PBS Wisconsin, "How much is Wisconsin's crypto ATM law limiting scams?" (headline only). https://wisconsinwatch.org/2026/09/wisconsin-crypto-atm-scams-fraud-new-law-consumer-protection