North Dakota — Bitcoin and virtual-currency law

• Jurisdiction: State of North Dakota (US)
• Date checked: 2026-10-09 (all statuses below were checked on this date unless another date is given)
• Regulator: North Dakota Department of Financial Institutions (DFI); Commissioner Lise Kruse [N1]
• Legislature: meets in odd years; 69th Legislative Assembly met January–April 2025; no 2026 regular session; next session January 2027.
• Saved primary sources: sources/states/nd/ (see sources/states/nd/INDEX.md)

At a glance

1. Money-transmitter licensing of virtual currency

• NDCC chapter 13-09.1 (Money Transmitters), enacted by SB 2119 (2023) as the CSBS Money Transmission Modernization Act including its Title XIII on virtual currency; the chapter took effect 2023-08-01 (existing licensees transitioned at renewal, no later than 2023-12-31) (§ 13-09.1-43). Full chapter saved: sources/states/nd/nd-cc-13-09.1-money-transmitters.pdf. [S1][S3][S4]
• § 13-09.1-44 definitions (virtual-currency title):
• "Virtual currency" — a digital representation of value used as a medium of exchange, unit of account or store of value, which "is not money, whether or not denominated in money"; excludes merchant rewards and single-publisher game currencies.
• "Virtual-currency business activity" — "exchanging, transferring, or storing virtual currency or engaging in virtual-currency administration," directly or through a control-services vendor (plus kiosk transactions, as amended in 2025).
• Also defines "control of virtual currency," "virtual-currency administration," "virtual-currency kiosk," etc. [S1]
• CSBS lists North Dakota as a full MTMA state with "Virtual Currency Title: Yes." [S3][S4]

2. Virtual-currency-specific statutes

3. Crypto ATM / kiosk law

HB 1447 (2025) — sponsors Reps. Swiontek, Christy, Hanson, Heinert, J. Olson, Richter, Schauer; Sens. Hogan, Klein, Lee, Rummel, Sickler. House 87-3 (2025-02-17); Senate 45-1 as amended (2025-03-18); House concurred; signed by the Governor and filed with the Secretary of State 2025-04-11. [S2] Codified at NDCC §§ 13-09.1-50 to -54 (text read in the saved chapter): [S1]

• § 13-09.1-50: an operator may not engage in virtual-currency business activity "unless the kiosk operator is licensed in this state as a money transmitter"; kiosks must be in commercially accessible, well-lit, surveilled locations accessible to users with mobility limits; quarterly location reports within 45 days of quarter-end, including the kiosk's virtual-currency addresses.
• § 13-09.1-51: bold fraud warning (stranger contact, frozen accounts, impersonated banks or police, "call a local law enforcement officer before any transaction"; "transactions … are irreversible"); risk disclosures (not legal tender, not FDIC/NCUA/SIPC insured, volatility); fee and exchange-rate disclosure; receipts with transaction hash, addresses and refund policy.
• § 13-09.1-52: blockchain analytics to block wallets tied to fraud; written anti-fraud and enhanced-due-diligence policies; full-time compliance officer and consumer protection officer (neither may own more than 20%).
• § 13-09.1-53: daily limit — no more than $2,000 of cash or equivalent per calendar day per customer across the operator's kiosks.
• § 13-09.1-54: live customer service Monday–Friday 8 a.m.–10 p.m. Central.
• The enacted text read contains no percentage fee cap and no mandatory fraud refund (unlike, e.g., Nebraska or North Carolina). [S1]
• DFI consumer page explains the law and that kiosks must be licensed. [S6]

4. Tax treatment

• North Dakota income tax starts from federal taxable income, so federal property treatment applies (general knowledge; unverified). No crypto-specific guidance from the Office of State Tax Commissioner was found (gap).

5. Notable enforcement

• Coinme multistate consent order (announced 2026-10-08): 34 states; $2.5 million total (North Dakota's share $10,000); Coinme must cease virtual-currency kiosk operations by 2027-01-01 or face an extra $4 million penalty; independent compliance consultant within six months; 12 months to fix deficiencies; alleged Bank Secrecy Act / AML violations. Coinme had 66 service locations in 27 North Dakota cities (11 Bitcoin ATMs, 55 retail cash locations). Commissioner Lise Kruse: "The penalties and corrective plan underscore the importance of our licensed entities complying with state and federal requirements." [N1]

6. Pending and recently failed bills

North Dakota has no 2026 session; nothing is pending. Failed 2025 bills (NCSL): [S5]

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

• "$2,000 limits don't stop scams." Consumer advocates (AARP North Dakota pushed HB 1447) argue limits plus refunds are needed; North Dakota's law has limits but no refund mandate. Operators argue limits hurt legitimate customers (industry position general; not read from a source here). [N2]
• Reserve bills. Advocates said Bitcoin would diversify state funds; legislators rejected 2025 bills, with news reports citing volatility concerns (headline: "Crypto reserve bills have failed in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota…"). [N3] Policy dispute.

Sources

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

• [S1] North Dakota Legislative Branch, NDCC chapter 13-09.1 (Money Transmitters), current. https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t13c09-1.pdf — retrieved 2026-10-09 — saved nd-cc-13-09.1-money-transmitters.pdf
• [S2] North Dakota Legislative Branch, HB 1447 (2025) bill overview. https://ndlegis.gov/assembly/69-2025/regular/bill-overview/bo1447.html — read 2026-10-09
• [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) — "North Dakota (S.B. 2119) Full MTMA Introduction with Title XIII on virtual currency (Effective 8/1/2023)." https://www.csbs.org/mtma-legislative-update-august-2026
• [S5] NCSL, 2025 cryptocurrency legislation page. https://www.ncsl.org/financial-services/cryptocurrency-digital-or-virtual-currency-and-digital-assets-2025-legislation
• [S6] ND Department of Financial Institutions, "Crypto ATMs" consumer page. https://www.nd.gov/dfi/crypto-atms — saved nd-dfi-crypto-atms-page.html
• [N1] My Dakotan, "North Dakota Joins $2.5 Million Crypto Settlement; Coinme Bitcoin Kiosks Face Shutdown," 2026-10-09. https://mydakotan.com/2026/10/north-dakota-joins-2-5-million-crypto-settlement-coinme-bitcoin-kiosks-face-shutdown — summary only
• [N2] AARP North Dakota, "Bill to Protect Older North Dakotans from Criminals who use Crypto ATMs…" (2025; headline seen in search results). https://states.aarp.org/north-dakota/2025-cryptoatm
• [N3] Techmeme, 2025-02-28, "Crypto reserve bills have failed in Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and…" (headline only). https://www.techmeme.com/250228/p27