Crypto regulation in the United States
Who regulates crypto in America, what changed in 2025 and 2026, and what it means if you buy, hold or pay with it.
Owning, buying and selling crypto is legal in the United States. There is still no single crypto law: the SEC oversees crypto that counts as a security, the CFTC oversees crypto commodities and derivatives, states license exchanges, and the IRS taxes crypto as property. A federal stablecoin law (the GENIUS Act) takes effect on January 18, 2027, while the broader market-structure bill (the CLARITY Act) stalled in the Senate in September 2026.
Last reviewed: November 2026. Facts on this page were checked against official sources on November 4, 2026.
the United States at a glance
| Owning crypto | Legal. No federal limit on holding crypto, including in your own wallet. |
|---|---|
| Buying and selling | Legal through registered exchanges and brokers; spot bitcoin and ether ETFs trade since 2024. |
| Paying with crypto | Legal but not legal tender. Every payment is a taxable sale of property. |
| Exchange licensing | FinCEN registration plus state money-transmitter licenses (New York: BitLicense). SEC or CFTC registration for some activities. |
| Mining | Legal. Some states and towns restrict noise, power use or new power plants. |
| Tax | Treated as property: capital gains when you sell, spend or swap; income when you earn it. Brokers file Form 1099-DA from 2025 sales. |
| Stablecoins | GENIUS Act signed July 18, 2025; takes effect January 18, 2027. OCC final rule issued October 21, 2026. |
| Restrictions and bans | OFAC sanctions apply; Travel Rule for transfers of $3,000 or more; agencies barred from creating a CBDC by executive order. |
Who regulates what: SEC vs. CFTC and the rest
| Agency | What it covers in crypto |
|---|---|
| SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) | Tokens sold as investments that count as securities, crypto ETFs, and platforms that trade securities. Its main test comes from a 1946 Supreme Court case (Howey): money invested in a common enterprise with an expectation of profit from others' efforts. |
| CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) | Commodities such as bitcoin and ether, mainly futures, options and perpetual contracts, plus fraud and manipulation in spot commodity markets. It does not yet have full rule-writing power over spot crypto exchanges. |
| FinCEN (Treasury) | Anti-money-laundering rules: registration, ID checks, suspicious-activity reports, the Travel Rule. |
| OFAC (Treasury) | Sanctions on people, exchanges and wallet addresses. |
| IRS | Tax, including Form 1099-DA. |
| OCC, Fed, FDIC and state regulators | Banks' crypto activity and, under the GENIUS Act, stablecoin issuers. |
| States | Money-transmitter licenses, New York's BitLicense, consumer protection, crypto ATM rules. |
The overlap is why the industry asked Congress for a market-structure law: whether a given token is a security (SEC) or a commodity (CFTC) has decided which rules apply, and that line was argued case by case in court for years.
2025 and 2026: what changed
US crypto policy turned sharply in 2025. In brief:
- New SEC approach. The SEC set up a Crypto Task Force led by Commissioner Hester Peirce on January 21, 2025, and withdrew its accounting guidance (SAB 121) that had discouraged banks from holding crypto. Paul Atkins became chair in April 2025.
- Dropped cases. The SEC dismissed its lawsuits against Coinbase (dismissal agreed February 27, 2025), Kraken and Consensys (dismissals filed March 27, 2025) and Binance (dismissed May 29, 2025), closed investigations into Robinhood, Uniswap Labs and OpenSea, and in March 2025 said it would drop its appeal in the Ripple case.
- Staff statements. SEC staff said that typical meme coins (February 2025), proof-of-work mining (March 2025), fully backed dollar stablecoins (April 2025) and protocol staking (May 2025) generally do not involve securities. These are staff views, not law.
- Rules instead of lawsuits. In March 2026 the SEC issued an interpretive release on when digital assets are securities, and on August 18, 2026 proposed "Regulation Crypto Assets" with exemptions for raising money through token sales. The CFTC's chairman directed staff on August 20, 2026 to draft crypto market rules under its existing powers.
- A national bitcoin reserve. A March 6, 2025 executive order created a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve from bitcoin the government already owned through forfeitures. New Hampshire, Arizona and Texas passed their own state reserve laws in 2025.
The market-structure bill (CLARITY Act): where it stands
The Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (H.R. 3633) would split oversight of crypto markets between the CFTC ("digital commodities" such as bitcoin) and the SEC (crypto sold as an investment), and create registration for crypto exchanges, brokers and dealers.
Passes the House 294–134.
The Senate Agriculture Committee advances its own version of the CFTC part, 12–11.
The Senate Banking Committee advances H.R. 3633 with a substitute text, 15–9.
The full Senate rejects a motion to begin debate, 49–50; 60 votes were needed.
No further action. The bill is not law.
Until Congress acts, the SEC and CFTC are regulating through their own rules and guidance, which a future administration could change more easily than a law.
Owning crypto
Any US resident may buy and hold crypto, including in a self-custody wallet that no company controls. There is no federal registration for individual holders. What the law does regulate is the businesses around you: exchanges, brokers, custodians and stablecoin issuers.
Crypto held at an exchange is not covered by FDIC deposit insurance, and SIPC protection usually does not apply to the crypto itself. Spot bitcoin and ether ETFs held in a brokerage account are securities, so the usual brokerage rules apply to the fund shares. See custodial vs. non-custodial wallets.
Buying and selling
Most Americans buy through a centralized exchange or a broker app. These firms must register with FinCEN as money services businesses, follow anti-money-laundering rules (including checking your ID), and hold a money-transmitter license in each state where they serve customers, or an equivalent charter. Some exchanges are not available in every state for this reason.
Since January 11, 2024, spot bitcoin ETFs trade on US stock exchanges, and spot ether ETFs followed on July 23, 2024. In September 2025 the SEC approved generic listing standards that let exchanges list more crypto ETFs without a separate rule change for each. See Bitcoin ETFs explained and how to buy bitcoin safely.
Paying with crypto
Crypto is not legal tender in the US, so no one has to accept it, but businesses may choose to. For you, each time you pay with crypto counts as selling it: if the coin rose in value since you got it, you owe tax on the gain, even on a coffee. There is no small-purchase exemption in current law.
Exchange licensing
Licensing happens at two levels. At the federal level, exchanges and other businesses that transmit crypto register with FinCEN and follow the Bank Secrecy Act. If a firm deals in crypto that is a security, SEC rules apply; if it offers futures or other derivatives, it needs CFTC registration.
At the state level, most states require a money-transmitter license. New York has its own regime, the BitLicense, run by the New York Department of Financial Services since 2015; it is widely seen as the strictest. California's Digital Financial Assets Law requires crypto businesses serving Californians to be licensed by July 1, 2026, and also caps crypto ATM transactions at $1,000 per customer per day.
Mining
Mining is legal and the US is the largest bitcoin mining country by most estimates. Rules are local: some towns have fought noisy mining sites, and in 2022 New York passed a two-year moratorium on new permits for fossil-fuel power plants that run proof-of-work mining. Mining rewards are taxable income when received. See crypto's environmental impact.
Tax
The IRS treats crypto as property, not currency. Selling, swapping one coin for another, or spending crypto is a taxable event; gains are short-term (taxed as ordinary income) if you held for a year or less, and long-term (lower rates) if longer. Mining, staking rewards and pay received in crypto are income at their dollar value when you receive them. Every federal return asks whether you received or disposed of digital assets.
Form 1099-DA. Brokers, including exchanges, must report customers' gross proceeds on the new Form 1099-DA for sales made on or after January 1, 2025, and must also report cost basis for assets acquired on or after January 1, 2026 and held in the same account. Congress repealed the separate rule that would have treated DeFi front-ends as brokers (signed April 10, 2025). Keep your own records anyway: forms often lack the purchase price for coins moved in from elsewhere.
Estimate your bill with the US crypto tax calculator, and read crypto taxes explained.
Stablecoins
The GENIUS Act, signed on July 18, 2025, is the first federal law written for crypto. It covers dollar "payment stablecoins": issuers must be approved (as a bank subsidiary, a federally licensed nonbank, or under a qualifying state regime for smaller issuers), hold reserves one-for-one in cash, short-term Treasuries and similar safe assets, publish monthly reserve reports, and may not pay interest to holders. In a failure, holders get priority claims on the reserves.
The Act takes effect on January 18, 2027. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency issued the first final implementing rule on October 21, 2026; Treasury, the FDIC and other regulators had proposed rules but not all were final when we checked. After the effective date, only permitted issuers may issue a payment stablecoin in the US. See what is a stablecoin.
Restrictions and bans
- Sanctions. The Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) lists sanctioned people, exchanges and wallet addresses. Dealing with them is illegal for US persons. See crypto crime and money laundering.
- Travel Rule. Under FinCEN's Bank Secrecy Act rules, a business sending $3,000 or more must pass on information about the sender and receiver to the next institution.
- No CBDC. A January 23, 2025 executive order bars federal agencies from creating a central bank digital currency. See what is a CBDC.
- Crypto ATMs. Several states cap daily kiosk transactions, and Indiana, Tennessee and Minnesota have banned the machines outright. See Bitcoin ATMs.
What changed recently
The House passes the GENIUS Act (308–122) and the CLARITY Act (294–134).
The GENIUS Act is signed into law.
An executive order directs agencies to make it easier for 401(k) plans to offer alternative assets, including crypto.
The SEC publishes an interpretive release on how the definition of a security applies to digital assets.
The SEC proposes "Regulation Crypto Assets," a framework for raising money with crypto tokens (comment deadline October 20, 2026; the SEC said it would still consider later comments).
A Senate procedural vote to take up the CLARITY Act fails 49–50, short of the 60 needed.
The OCC finalizes its GENIUS Act rule for stablecoin issuers it supervises.
- CLARITY Act: after the failed September 15, 2026 vote, a motion to reconsider was entered but no further Senate action had been taken by November 4, 2026. Most observers expect no passage this Congress.
- GENIUS Act rules: several agencies' rules were still at the proposal stage. The law takes effect January 18, 2027 regardless.
- SEC and CFTC rulemaking: both agencies are writing crypto rules under existing powers; proposals can change before they are final.
This page summarizes the rules for general understanding. Laws change, and how they apply depends on your circumstances. For a decision that matters, check the official sources below or ask a qualified local adviser.
Frequently asked questions
Is crypto legal in the US?
Yes. Owning, buying, selling and using crypto is legal. Businesses that handle it for customers need federal registration and state licenses, and the IRS taxes it as property.
Who regulates crypto in the US, the SEC or the CFTC?
Both, plus others. The SEC covers crypto that counts as a security and crypto ETFs; the CFTC covers commodities such as bitcoin, mainly in futures and other derivatives; FinCEN covers anti-money-laundering rules; states license exchanges; the IRS handles tax; and from 2027 banking regulators supervise stablecoin issuers.
Did the CLARITY Act pass?
No. It passed the House in July 2025, but on September 15, 2026 the Senate fell short of the votes needed to begin debate (49–50). As of November 4, 2026 it had not passed the Senate.
When does the GENIUS Act take effect?
On January 18, 2027. That is 18 months after it was signed, which came before the alternative trigger of 120 days after final regulations.
Will I get a 1099 for crypto?
If you sold crypto through a US broker or exchange in 2025 or later, you should receive Form 1099-DA showing your proceeds. Cost basis is added for assets bought from 2026 onward in the same account. You must report all sales either way.
Does the US government own bitcoin?
Yes, mostly from criminal forfeitures. A March 6, 2025 executive order created a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve from those holdings and said the government should not sell them; new purchases are allowed only if they cost taxpayers nothing.
Where to next
Sources
- GENIUS Act, S.1582 (Congress.gov)
- Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, H.R.3633 (Congress.gov)
- OCC final rule implementing the GENIUS Act (OCC news release, October 2026)
- Crypto Task Force (US Securities and Exchange Commission)
- Digital assets (Commodity Futures Trading Commission)
- Digital assets and Form 1099-DA (Internal Revenue Service)
- Virtual currency businesses and the BitLicense (New York DFS)
- Establishment of the Strategic Bitcoin Reserve (White House, March 6, 2025)
- In the wake of the CLARITY Act's failure, agencies move forward (Troutman Pepper Locke, 2026)
Written for beginners and checked against the sources listed. Last reviewed November 2026. This page is educational and is not financial, tax or legal advice. How we write and check pages.