The crypto LLC, state by state.
Trading firms, miners, DeFi protocols, NFT projects, validator operations and payment processors all form the same entity and then meet entirely different rules. Some states have written digital asset law of their own. Others have nothing crypto-specific and fall back on general money transmitter licensing. The LLC gives you liability isolation and tax flexibility. The state decides what sits on top of it.
Four things that change with your state.
The formation itself looks the same in every state. What changes is everything built on top of it, and the spread between the strictest state and the quietest one is wide enough to decide where you operate.
State crypto rules
The spread is the point. Some states have written digital asset law of their own and regulate the activity directly. Others have nothing crypto-specific at all and fall back on general money transmitter rules. Same LLC, completely different exposure, which is why operators ask where to form before they ask how.
Money transmitter licensing
Whether it applies turns on what you actually do with other people's assets rather than on what you call the product. The requirement is granted state by state, not nationally, so multi-state activity means multiple applications. Defining the activity precisely comes first; the licensing question follows from that answer.
Banking is the hard part
Formation is the fast step. Finding and keeping a bank that will hold a crypto business as a customer is the slow one, and it depends on where you are, what you do and how clean the documentation is. A structure that supports institutional banking is one of the reasons the entity exists at all.
FinCEN and the IRS
Two things do not move at the state line. Registration with FinCEN is federal, and applies if you qualify as a money services business. And federal tax treats token sales as capital events while mining and staking rewards are ordinary income at receipt, which makes basis tracking a year-round job rather than an April one.
The entity is the same everywhere. The rulebook is not.
Pick your state.
Each state page covers that state's crypto regulatory environment, where money transmitter licensing bites, what BSA and AML compliance means for an operator there, and how the banking picture looks. Start with the state you intend to operate from.
A clean handoff, in four steps.
You define what the business actually does. We form the entity and set out the layers that follow in the order they have to happen, so nothing gets built on a definition that changes later.
Name the activity
Trading, mining, staking, custody, payments, protocol development. What you actually do decides which layers below apply to you, and every answer after this one depends on getting it right.
Pick the formation state
Where you form and where you operate are not automatically the same question. The state's rules, your customers and your banking all pull on the answer, so it is worth deciding rather than defaulting.
File the LLC
We prepare and file the formation documents with the state, then get you to an EIN so the banking conversation starts with the entity paperwork already in hand.
Register and license
FinCEN registration if you are a money services business, state money transmitter licenses where they are required, banking and custody set up, and basis tracking running from the first transaction.
Define the activity first. Everything else is downstream of that sentence.
The rest of Industry & niche LLCs.
Every one of these is built the same way: a national explainer above its state pages. They are the filings that sit closest to this one.
Airbnb LLC
Airbnb LLC, state by state
All 51 states → HubCar Dealer LLC
Car dealer LLC, state by state
All 51 states → HubCleaning LLC
The cleaning LLC, state by state
All 51 states → HubCoaching LLC
The coaching LLC, state by state
All 51 states → HubConsulting LLC
The consulting LLC, state by state
All 51 states → HubContractor LLC
The contractor LLC, state by state
All 51 states → HubDAO LLC
The DAO LLC, state by state
All 51 states → HubDaycare LLC
The daycare LLC, state by state
All 51 states →The full index lives on Industry & niche LLCs.
The questions crypto operators ask before they form.
Which state should a crypto business form in?
There is no single answer, which is why there are fifty-one pages. Some states have purpose-built digital asset law and regulate the activity directly. Others have nothing crypto-specific and apply general money transmitter rules. Where your customers are, what you do with their assets and which banks will work with you all pull on the decision, and forming somewhere friendly does not remove the rules where you actually operate.
Do I need a money transmitter license?
It depends on what you do with assets that are not yours. Custody, transfer and exchange activity are what draw the requirement, and the requirement is issued state by state rather than nationally. That means the answer can be different in each state you serve customers in. Defining the activity precisely is the first step, because the licensing question is decided by that definition.
Does an LLC protect me from crypto losses?
An LLC separates the business from you as an individual, which matters for claims against the business. It does not change market outcomes, it does not insulate you from your own conduct, and it does not remove any licensing obligation the activity attracts. It is a structure for holding the activity cleanly, not a shield against the activity going badly.
How are tokens taxed federally?
Federal treatment is the part that does not change at the state line. Token sales are capital events. Mining and staking rewards are ordinary income at the point of receipt. That combination makes basis tracking continuous rather than annual, because a reward received today becomes the basis for a disposal later, and reconstructing that history after the fact is considerably harder than recording it.
What is FinCEN registration and do I need it?
FinCEN registration is federal, and it applies to businesses that qualify as money services businesses. It sits alongside BSA and AML obligations, which are about the programs and records you keep rather than a single filing. Whether you qualify comes back to what the business actually does, which is why the activity definition is the first step rather than a formality.
Why is banking harder than forming the entity?
Because forming an entity is a state filing and banking is a credit and compliance decision made by a private institution. Banks assess crypto activity individually, and their appetite differs by institution and by what the business does. The formation gives you the structure a bank expects to see. The relationship still has to be built, and it is usually the longest part of getting operational.
Keep going, in order.
Industry & niche LLCs
Every hub in industry & niche llcs, in one place.
Open the index → IndexAll 51 state guides
Every filing a business does, organised by jurisdiction.
Open the index → ServiceCompliance calendar
Every deadline that touches your entity, watched.
Track deadlines → ServiceTalk to a specialist
A person who files these every day, not a call centre.
Get in touch →