AMERICAS · JURISDICTION PROFILE
United States
Overview
The United States regulates crypto through several federal agencies and 50 state regimes rather than a single statute. The SEC treats many tokens as securities, the CFTC oversees crypto commodities and derivatives, FinCEN applies money-services-business AML rules, and the OCC charters national banks that custody crypto — with the state layer (notably New York's BitLicense) adding money-transmitter licensing.
Regulatory framework
There is no omnibus federal framework. The 2025 GENIUS Act created the first federal regime for payment stablecoins, with reserve, redemption and disclosure requirements and dual federal/state issuer licensing.
Licensing & authorisation
Activity-specific: securities registration or exemption with the SEC, derivatives registration with the CFTC, FinCEN MSB registration, and state money-transmitter licences (BitLicense in New York).
AML & Travel Rule
FinCEN applies the Bank Secrecy Act and the Travel Rule to convertible-virtual-currency transfers by money services businesses.
Track developments
This jurisdiction is covered by the live wire — see the latest official items filtered to it.
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