- South Carolina’s new regulation prevents state businesses from accepting or testing federal CBDCs.
- Governor McMaster signed S.163, which protects cryptocurrency funds, self-custodial wallets, and mining.
- The regulation exempts mining, node operations, on-chain apps, and cryptocurrency buying and selling from licensing guidelines.
South Carolina has moved additional into the nationwide digital asset dialog after Governor Henry McMaster signed Senate Invoice 163 into regulation. The measure would create a state framework for digital belongings whereas stopping public entities from utilizing or testing federally issued CBDCs.
The regulation, titled “Cryptocurrency,” brings non-public digital asset actions beneath authorized safety and limits authorities involvement in central financial institution digital foreign money programs. It additionally offers customers, corporations, miners, and builders clear protections beneath state regulation.
New regulation protects cost and self-custody of digital belongings
Below S. 163, people and companies can’t be prohibited from accepting digital belongings as cost for lawful items and providers. This measure additionally protects the usage of self-hosted wallets and {hardware} wallets, permitting customers to carry their belongings immediately.
Nonetheless, the regulation prohibits state and native governments from including taxes, withholdings, assessments, or charges just because a digital asset is used for cost. This provision ensures that cost actions are handled equally beneath state guidelines.
It additionally defines a number of necessary phrases, together with blockchain, digital belongings, mining, staking, wallets, nodes, and associated actions. These definitions kind the idea for a way states deal with this sector.
CBDC restrictions draw clear state boundaries
In the meantime, the anti-CBDC part is likely one of the central elements of the invoice. It defines a CBDC as a digital foreign money, medium of alternate, or financial unit issued by the Federal Reserve System or different federal company.
The regulation prohibits state businesses, boards, commissions, departments, and political branches from accepting or requesting funds in CBDC. It might additionally forestall them from collaborating in checks involving comparable currencies issued by the Federal Reserve.
Nonetheless, this definition doesn’t embody non-public digital belongings backed by fiat foreign money or authorities treasuries. In different phrases, privately issued stablecoins don’t appear to fall beneath this restriction.
Mining and blockchain actions achieve authorized safety
The regulation additionally protects some blockchain actions from cash switch supplier licensing guidelines. These embody mining, node operations, on-chain utility growth, and cryptocurrency-to-cryptocurrency buying and selling.
Mining operations will obtain further safety beneath the brand new framework. Native governments can not prohibit mining operations in industrial zones or impose mining-specific noise limits past common noise laws.
The transfer follows comparable measures in different states. In March 2025, Kentucky handed Home Invoice 701, which protects self-hosted wallets and limits discriminatory guidelines towards mining operations.
In South Carolina, the regulation supplies a transparent division of coverage. Whereas the usage of non-public cryptocurrencies has authorized assist, public establishments are restricted from collaborating in CBDC programs.
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