South Carolina law secures crypto self-custody, bans state CBDC participation and relaxes mining rules

Governor Henry McMaster signed Senate Bill 163 (also referenced as S.0163) into law, creating statutory protections for self-custody of digital assets and addressing activities such as mining and other blockchain operations ^{[1] [2]}.

The law bars state agencies from participating in CBDC programs, prohibiting both acceptance of CBDC payments and participation in CBDC testing or pilot programs by state authorities, limiting state involvement with central bank digital currencies ^{[3] [1] [2]}.

Provisions also remove or narrow certain licensing requirements tied to blockchain activity and extend non‑discriminatory tax and legal protections to a range of digital assets beyond Bitcoin; the enacted bill was assessed as having no fiscal impact under current conditions in related reporting ^{[2] [4] [1]}.

Observers noted the measure fosters a pro-crypto environment that could attract digital-asset businesses and may complicate broader CBDC adoption efforts, according to coverage of the law ^[3].