We never take custody. Isn’t “non-custodial” enough to avoid licensing?

No. The word “custody” does not appear in the definition. FinCEN’s 2019 guidance uses a four-factor test: who owns the value; where it is stored; whether the owner interacts directly with the payment system; and whether the intermediary has total independent control over the value. In this model, two factors fail immediately. The customer does not submit the transactions — the platform’s servers do, and the platform pays the fees. And if funds move only when the platform executes the payout, the customer lacks total independent control. That power is intermediation. (FIN-2019-G001 § 4.2)