South Carolina Gov. McMaster Signs Anti-CBDC Crypto Law, Protects Self-Custody Rights

South Carolina Lawmakers Back Crypto Bill 110-1, McMaster Signs It Into Law

The legislation, formally designated R131 and adding Chapter 47 to Title 34 of the South Carolina Code of Laws, took effect instantly upon signing. It cleared the Senate 38-1 and passed the House 110-1, signaling wide statement crossed enactment lines.

The instrumentality bars each authorities governing authorities, including boards, commissions, departments, agencies, and governmental subdivisions, from accepting oregon requiring payments successful a cardinal slope integer currency. State entities are besides prohibited from participating successful immoderate national CBDC aviator program. The measure defines CBDC arsenic a integer currency issued straight by the Federal Reserve oregon a national agency, excluding privately issued, asset-backed stablecoins.

Individuals and businesses operating successful South Carolina tin present freely judge integer assets, including virtual currencies, cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and non-fungible tokens, arsenic outgo for ineligible goods and services. The instrumentality explicitly protects the close to usage self-hosted wallets and hardware wallets for self-custody.

On taxation, the measure establishes neutrality betwixt integer plus payments and U.S. dollar transactions. Merchants and individuals cannot look further taxes, withholdings, oregon charges simply due to the fact that a outgo was made successful cryptocurrency alternatively than fiat.

Crypto miners operating successful industrially zoned areas besides summation circumstantial protections. Local governments cannot enforce dependable restrictions beyond those applied to different concern businesses, and rezoning cannot proceed without due announcement and a nationalist remark period. Mining businesses drafting much than 1 megawatt of powerfulness indispensable supply powerfulness acquisition agreements to the South Carolina Public Service Commission connected request, demonstrating load-shedding capableness during grid stress.

The instrumentality removes the wealth transmitter licence request for integer plus mining, operating web nodes, processing blockchain software, and peer-to-peer integer plus exchanges that bash not impact fiat currency oregon slope accounts. Staking and mining arsenic a work are not classified arsenic securities nether the bill, though the authorities lawyer wide retains the authorization to prosecute fraud successful those categories.

S.163 was introduced Jan. 14, 2025, by authorities Sens. Verdin and Leber. The Senate passed it successful May 2025, and the House followed connected May 5, 2026. The measure was ratified connected May 14, earlier McMaster signed it days later.

The authorities builds connected earlier authorities efforts, including a Digital Assets Literacy Project established by the South Carolina State Treasurer’s Office nether the 2022-2023 appropriations.

South Carolina joins Texas and Florida among states that person moved to pull miners and blockchain operators done zoning relief, licensing exemptions, and regulatory clarity. The CBDC prohibition mirrors the goals of the national Anti- CBDC Surveillance State Act, which has circulated successful Congress but has not yet passed.

The instrumentality does not impact national rules oregon privately issued stablecoin products. Its scope is constricted to state-level governance and the rights of individuals and businesses operating wrong South Carolina. Businesses and miners looking to relocate oregon grow operations present person a nonstop statutory model protecting self-custody, outgo rights, and operational zoning successful the state.