North Carolina Governor signs HB 920, new rules for Bitcoin ATM kiosks — Effective January 1, 2027

Governor Josh Stein signed North Carolina House Bill 920 into law on July 8, 2026, after it passed the House 115–0 and the Senate 49–0 and was ratified July 2.

One correction up front: the statute's actual name is the Virtual Currency Kiosk Consumer Protection Act, not a "Bitcoin" act, it covers any cash-to-crypto kiosk, not Bitcoin specifically. In practice, though, Bitcoin is what most of these machines trade, so this is the relevant read for anyone using a kiosk in NC.

What changes, effective January 1, 2027:

• Daily transaction limits: $2,000 for new customers (first transaction within the past 30 days), $5,000 for existing customers.
• Aggregate fees, including spread, capped at 12%, current kiosk fees in the state reportedly run 20–30%, so this is a cut, not a hike.
• A 48-hour hold applies only to a customer's transactions made within their first seven days using a given operator.
• Mandatory interactive fraud-warning screens (10-second minimum display, yes/no scam check) before each transaction, plus a ban on QR-code/barcode login at kiosks.
• Kiosk operators must run blockchain analytics against the destination wallet address before releasing funds, and must hold a state money transmitter license under the Commissioner of Banks.
• Full refund for new customers, or fee refund for existing customers, if a transaction is reported within 30 days and the Commissioner rules it fraudulent.

What it means for self-custody holders: this only touches the kiosk on-ramp/off-ramp — it doesn't touch self-custody, wallets, or on-chain activity directly. The more concrete friction is the wallet-address screening step and the 48-hour hold for first-week users. Cities and counties also keep their zoning authority, so some localities could still restrict kiosks even under this framework.

Worth watching: New Jersey's SB 2141, which would ban kiosks outright rather than regulate them, has passed the full Senate and is sitting in an Assembly committee, not yet law. Indiana, Tennessee, and Minnesota have already enacted outright bans, so NC's regulate-rather-than-ban approach is currently the minority path among 2026 state actions.

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