North Carolina sets consumer protections for virtual currency kiosks

Virtual currency kiosk operators must give customers risk, account-term, fee, and exchange-rate disclosures and use interactive fraud screens. These rules cover operators and kiosks serving customers in North Carolina before initial and later virtual currency transactions. Operators must warn customers about scams, irreversible transactions, fees, exchange rates, and other listed risks and terms. Each required warning screen must stay visible for at least 10 seconds. If a customer answers “Yes” to a fraud-screen question, the kiosk must stop the transaction and disable the identified account, wallet address, phone number, or other access identifier for at least 24 hours. Operators may not let customers skip or speed up the fraud-screen process. Except for the implementation-rule provision, these requirements apply to offenses committed on or after January 1, 2027.

Kiosk operators must limit transactions, provide certain refunds, allow cancellation before completion, cap charges, and hold many new customers’ transactions for 48 hours. A new customer has no prior transaction or first transacted within the past 30 days; an existing customer first transacted more than 30 days ago; the 48-hour hold covers customers whose first transaction was within the past seven days. Daily limits are $2,000 for new customers and $5,000 for existing customers. A full refund for a fraudulent transaction is required for a new customer who reports it to the Commissioner within 30 days and whose transaction is found fraudulent under the Commissioner’s procedure. Operator-imposed fees must be refunded for an existing customer meeting the same reporting and fraud-determination conditions. Customers may cancel before completion and receive a full, immediate refund; total charges, including the spread, may not exceed 12% of the transaction’s dollar value. The 48-hour hold begins when each covered transaction is initiated, and each transaction receives its own hold; these provisions generally apply on or after January 1, 2027.

Kiosk operators must meet licensing, recordkeeping, receipt, customer-service, fraud-prevention, staffing, and reporting requirements. These duties cover businesses operating, marketing, soliciting, advertising, or facilitating virtual currency kiosks in North Carolina, while cities and counties may regulate kiosk locations through zoning. Operators must provide detailed physical receipts unless customers request electronic receipts and must provide live customer service whenever kiosks are available. Operators must use blockchain analytics, maintain written anti-fraud and compliance policies, and employ full-time compliance and consumer-protection officers who meet the ownership limits. Violations may be treated as unfair trade practices and may bring civil penalties of up to $1,000 for a first offense and $5,000 for later offenses. Cities and counties may permit, condition, or prohibit kiosks through uniform zoning rules that do not conflict with the act. These requirements generally apply to offenses committed on or after January 1, 2027; the Commissioner’s procedure for determining fraudulent transactions must be adopted by January 1, 2027.