The Texas Money Transmitter License guide (Faisal Khan LLC) covers the 2023 statutory reset that most other guides miss: S.B. 895 repealed the old Chapter 151 outright and replaced it with Finance Code Chapter 152, the Money Services Modernization Act, effective 1 September 2023, later aligned to the model act by H.B. 3833. Any guide still citing a $500,000 net worth requirement is quoting repealed law.
The most useful correction is on crypto. Texas has no virtual currency license and never adopted the model act's optional crypto article — coverage turns entirely on the definition of "money" in §152.003(19), which includes a stablecoin that is pegged to a sovereign currency, fully reserve-backed, and redeemable with the issuer. Per Supervisory Memorandum 1037 (revised 28 January 2025), transmitting Bitcoin or Ether, crypto-to-crypto exchange, and custodial crypto wallets are not licensable — but third-party exchange platforms that hold the buyer's dollars before remitting are.
What the guide covers:
- Regulator and fees: Texas Department of Banking, NMLS-mandatory, $10,000 non-refundable application fee
- Bond formula: greater of $100,000 or 100% of average daily Texas liability, capped at $500,000, with no tier ladder
- Tangible net worth: the §152.351 GAAP scale excluding all intangibles — the rule that catches out most applicants
- Annual assessment and report: miss the 45-day cure window and the license expires by operation of law, non-appealable
- Chapter 160: the real crypto obligation — quarterly customer accounting and annual proof-of-reserves audits for licensed digital asset trading platforms
- Costs: one-time outlay from roughly $74,120 to $373,120 depending on scale, excluding required capital