The governor of South Carolina signed a bill establishing a legal framework supporting cryptocurrencies and opposing CBDCs.

According to Mars Finance, on May 20th, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster signed S. 163 into law, amending the state code to create a more favorable environment for cryptocurrency users and businesses. The bill stipulates that individuals and businesses cannot be prohibited from accepting digital assets as payment for goods and services, nor can they be prohibited from using self-custodial wallets or hardware wallets to independently safeguard their digital assets. Simultaneously, the bill exempts cryptocurrencies used for payments from any additional taxes levied by state or local governments. One of the core provisions of the bill is its anti-Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) stance, prohibiting any state agency, commission, department, or political branch from accepting or requesting payments in CBDC, and from participating in any testing of similar digital currencies issued by the Federal Reserve. The bill also provides strong support for cryptocurrency mining, prohibiting local governments from restricting mining activities in industrial areas and from imposing specific noise restrictions on mining companies that exceed general noise pollution regulations for that area. Furthermore, the bill clarifies basic definitions including blockchain, digital assets, cryptocurrency mining, staking, wallets, and nodes. Under the new bill, several activities, including cryptocurrency mining, node operation, on-chain application development, and cryptocurrency trading, are exempt from the money transfer license requirement. Previously, several states, including Kentucky, passed similar legislation in March 2025, guaranteeing individuals' right to hold and manage crypto assets using self-custodial wallets and prohibiting local governments from restricting cryptocurrency mining through discriminatory laws.