Louisiana Virtual Currency Businesses Act

The act defines “virtual currency” as a digital representation of value used as a medium of exchange, unit of account, or store of value, while excluding legal tender, merchant rewards, and closed-loop online game value. “Virtual currency business activity” includes exchanging, transferring, storing, or administering virtual currency, as well as certain electronic precious metals and online-game-value exchange services. Current statutory text excludes mining, non-fungible-token minting, and blockchain activity that does not involve exchange, holding, sale, storage, or transfer of virtual currency to, for, or on behalf of Louisiana residents.

The statute applies to a person “wherever located” that engages in covered activity with or on behalf of a Louisiana resident, unless an exemption applies. Current exemptions include governmental entities, regulated financial institutions, certain payment processors, software and data-security providers, personal or academic use, and several fiduciary or regulated-market contexts.

• Licensing trigger: covered persons must be licensed by OFI unless exempt.
• Resident nexus: the statute focuses on activity with or on behalf of Louisiana residents.
• Regulatory channel: license applications and renewals are handled through NMLS.

Current Louisiana law requires license applicants to submit information through NMLS, including business plans, senior-person and control-person information, business history, products and services, expected transaction volume, kiosk locations, financial statements, insurance, surety bond evidence, tangible net worth evidence, and evidence of federal money-services-business registration where required. OFI may investigate the applicant’s financial condition, business experience, character, and general fitness before issuing a license.

The act also sets a capital and bonding layer. Licensees must maintain a surety bond, beginning at $100,000 and scaling with Louisiana virtual-currency business volume, with OFI authority to require a bond up to $7 million. Licensees must also maintain tangible net worth of at least $100,000 or a statutory volume-based amount.

For custody, the statute requires a licensee holding virtual currency for a resident to hold the same type and amount of virtual currency owed to that resident. It also restricts selling, transferring, assigning, lending, hypothecating, pledging, using, or encumbering resident assets except under the resident’s direction, and limits commingling or proprietary use that would prevent resident withdrawal.

The act requires separate, clear and conspicuous disclosures for exchange, transfer, and storage activity. Required risk disclosures include that virtual currency is not legal tender, is not protected by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or the Securities Investor Protection Corporation, may be affected by regulatory change, and may involve irreversible transactions, fraud risk, accidental loss, blockchain timing risk, and total loss of value. Transaction disclosures and receipts must also address fees, exchange rates, refund policies, timing, and reversibility.

Enforcement authority includes license suspension or revocation, cease-and-desist orders, receivership, injunctions, civil penalties, security recovery, and conditions on regulated activity. The original act also identified violation grounds including material statutory violations, noncooperation with OFI, unsafe or unsound practices, unfair or deceptive practices, fraud, misappropriation, insolvency, and material misrepresentation.

Louisiana’s kiosk rules were significantly expanded by Act No. 369 of 2025. That act makes persons who own, operate, solicit, market, advertise, or facilitate virtual-currency kiosks in Louisiana subject to the VCBA, including licensure. It also adds a $3,000 daily transaction limit, a 72-hour hold or cancellation-and-refund option, customer warning language, blockchain analytics requirements, anti-fraud policies, and enhanced due diligence policies for at-risk customers.

Act No. 482 of 2026 was signed on May 29, 2026, with an effective date of Aug. 1, 2026. Legislative tracking materials identify it as a further amendment to the VCBA’s kiosk refund, disclosure, and reporting framework. Editors should review the codified Louisiana Revised Statutes after Aug. 1, 2026 before treating those provisions as fully integrated into the current statutory text.