Wisconsin Bill Seeks to Exempt Crypto Activities From Money Transmitter Laws

Wisconsin lawmakers introduced laws Monday protecting crypto users and businesses from national licensing requirements, just months after the state dumped its entire $300 million Bitcoin ETF shares.

Congressional Bill 471, a medium-subject bipartisan action with nine sponsors, exempts individuals and businesses from remittance licenses when accepted. Cryptocurrency Self-hosted payments wallet,running Blockchain Node, software development, or participation in staking operations.

The bill was introduced to the Committee on Financial Institutions and is currently awaiting review. The Act expressly prohibits state agencies and political subdivisions, and prohibits or limits on these activities.

This measure creates exemptions for those engaged in “operating nodes or sets of nodes on the blockchain,” “enforcing the exchange of one digital asset of digital assets in legal currency,” “developing software on the blockchain,” or “digital asset mining or staking.”

Under the law, state agencies and local governments cannot “prohibit, limit or undermine” the acceptance of digital assets as cryptographic custody “using self-hosted or hardware wallets” using self-hosted or hardware wallets.

“If this bill is passed, it will help attract more crypto-native businesses to Wisconsin. Think of Dex, staking providers and other complete on-chain platforms,” ​​said Rutiel Gupta, co-founder of GYLD Finance. Decryption. “Equally important is setting a useful precedent for other states by showing how clarity of regulations appears.”

Gupta warned that “the law would not fundamentally change crypto operations as most providers operate in multiple states and are subject to Fincen registration and compliance.”

He noted that the bill “doesn’t really affect banks or payment processors” as on-ramps and off-ramps continue to operate under existing remittance licenses.

Wisconsin and the Cryptocurrency

In May, a filing by the SEC revealed that the Wisconsin Investment Commission quietly liquidated $300 million in BlackRock’s iShares Bitcoin Trust in the first quarter of 2025. Bitcoin Under $75,000.

In August, state Democrats introduced a twin bill that required crypto kiosk transfer licences, citing a 99% surge in fraud complaints that cost victims nearly $247 million in 2024.