Mississippi Enacts Virtual Currency Kiosk and Data Security Laws

Mississippi Enacts Virtual Currency Kiosk and Data Security Laws

The Mississippi Department of Banking and Consumer Finance announced that House Bill 1625 and House Bill 1596, both of which took effect July 1, 2026, establish new requirements for money transmitter licensees and virtual currency kiosk operators under the Money Transmission Modernization Act (Miss. Code Ann. § 75-16-1, et seq.).

HB 1625 enacts the Mississippi Virtual Currency Kiosk Consumer Protection Act, under which virtual currency kiosk operators must be licensed as money transmitters as of July 1, 2026. HB 1596 enacts the Data Security for Money Transmitters Act, requiring all licensees to maintain a comprehensive information security program.

Key Updates:

• Transaction limits of $1,000 per day for new customers ($5,000 total during the first 30 days) and $7,500 per day for existing customers, plus a 96-hour hold on funds from a customer’s initial transaction and a 14-day refund requirement for fraud claims
• Fraud prevention obligations, including risk disclosures, customer fraud screening with mandatory transaction termination for affirmative responses, blockchain analytics software, live customer support, and a designated chief compliance officer
• Information security program requirements based on a risk assessment, overseen by a qualified individual, with a written incident response plan for licensees with 5,000 or more customers
• Notification to the Commissioner within 72 hours of discovering unauthorized acquisition of unencrypted customer information
• Reporting of all virtual currency kiosk locations to the Department, as outlined in the DBCF 2026 legislative update

FS Vector monitors ongoing state guidance for money transmission and virtual currency activity to help ensure compliance with the latest requirements.

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