The South Carolina money transmitter license guide (Faisal Khan LLC, July 2026) covers a state that is distinctive on two counts: the regulator is the Attorney General's Money Services Division, one of the few states where an MTL sits with a prosecutor's office rather than a banking department, and the state's crypto position is more permissive than most operators assume.
Since 2018, the Division has held that virtual currency alone lacks the characteristics to be a "monetary value" under § 35-11-105(19) — fiat is what pulls an operator into licensure, not crypto itself. That reading was reinforced by S.163, signed 19 May 2026, which created a new Title 34 Chapter 47 statutorily exempting digital asset mining, node operation, blockchain software development and asset-for-asset exchange from the MTL requirement. It passed 38–1 in the Senate and 110–1 in the House.
What the guide covers:
- Fees of $1,500 application + $1,600 license, plus $1,600 annual renewal
- Bond under § 35-11-215 — greater of $100,000 or 100% of average daily in-state liability, capped at $500,000, or flat $100,000 if net worth clears 10% of assets
- Tangible net worth floor cut from $250,000 to $100,000 by the 2024 MTMA adoption act — the Division's own 2018 checklist still quotes the repealed figure
- A genuine 120-day deemed-approval clock once the application is complete, including the FBI check response
- Penalties: taking over $500 in a 30-day window without a license is a Class B felony; at or below $500, a Class A misdemeanor
- Ongoing quarterly call reports, a UAAR, and one-business-day reporting of bankruptcy or receivership proceedings
The guide also withdraws its own former sponsor-bank list, citing the 2024–25 BaaS shakeout and the Synapse collapse, and advises against building on a single banking relationship.