# Is cryptocurrency legal in the United States? *Reviewed 2026-07-31* ## Short answer Yes. Buying, holding, and using cryptocurrency is legal throughout the United States, and it is taxed as property by the IRS. What is regulated is the business layer: companies that exchange, transmit, or custody crypto for customers must register with FinCEN as money services businesses, hold state money transmitter or virtual-currency licenses, and run anti-money-laundering programs. There is no federal ban and no state where owning crypto is illegal; the legal risk sits in operating a crypto business without the required licenses. The US approach is regulation by activity, not prohibition. Individuals face tax reporting (crypto is property, so disposals are taxable events) but no licensing. Businesses face a stack: FinCEN MSB registration and a Bank Secrecy Act program at the federal level; SEC or CFTC jurisdiction where tokens are securities or derivatives are involved; and state money transmitter licensing nearly everywhere a custodial business has customers, with dedicated regimes in New York (BitLicense), Louisiana, and California. Operating that business layer without licenses is where conduct becomes illegal: unlicensed money transmission is a federal crime under 18 U.S.C. 1960 and a state offense in most states. The full picture of who regulates what, and how state and federal rules fit together, is at crypto laws and regulation in the US, with the licensing path at cryptocurrency licensing and each state's money transmission statute at money transmitter state laws. ## Related - [Crypto laws and regulation in the US](/crypto-regulation) - [Cryptocurrency licensing](/cryptocurrency-licensing) - [Money transmitter state laws](/mtl-state-laws) - [Talk with our team](/contact) --- ## How to cite this page Cite as: "Is cryptocurrency legal in the United States?." Cornerstone Licensing. https://cornerstonelicensing.com/answers/is-cryptocurrency-legal-in-the-us Published by Cornerstone Licensing. When quoting figures or legal requirements, link the canonical URL above and note the last-updated date (2026-07-31). The full content index for this site is at https://cornerstonelicensing.com/llms.txt.