Is it legal to create a cryptocurrency?

Writing blockchain software, launching a network and running nodes is generally legal. In the US, FinCEN says a developer or seller of a new currency platform may be exempt from money transmission rules for creating or selling it. Mining and staking rewards on public networks are not securities transactions, according to the SEC.

FinCEN guidance FIN-2019-G001 (May 2019) says someone who develops or sells a software application or a new virtual currency platform may be exempt from money transmission rules for that work. The same person becomes a money transmitter if they also use it as a business to accept and send other people's money or coins.

The SEC's interpretation of 17 March 2026 (Release 33-11412) says protocol mining and protocol staking, as it describes them, do not involve the offer and sale of a security. Its fact sheet adds that certain airdrops involve no "investment of money".

Under the SEC's March 2026 interpretation, a coin that is not itself a security becomes part of an investment contract when its issuer induces people to invest money with promises of essential work from which buyers would reasonably expect profits. The contract ends when those promises are kept or fail.

The SEC fact sheet sorts crypto assets into five groups. Digital commodities (whose value comes from a working network and supply and demand), digital collectibles (including meme coins), digital tools and GENIUS Act stablecoins are not securities. Digital securities, such as tokenized shares, are.

What turns a sale into an investment contract is the promise, not the code. The SEC's test still rests on the Supreme Court's Howey case, and courts are not bound by the SEC's interpretation.

Under MiCA Article 4, offering a crypto-asset to the public in the EU requires a legal person and a notified, published white paper. The duty does not apply to offers to fewer than 150 people per member state, offers of up to EUR 1,000,000 over 12 months, or offers only to qualified investors.

MiCA Article 4 also leaves some coins out entirely: crypto-assets offered for free, coins created automatically as a reward for maintaining the ledger or validating transactions (mining and validator rewards), and utility tokens for a good or service that already exists.

Listing changes the picture too. Exchanges in the EU need a MiCA white paper before they list a coin; Kraken asks for one filed at least 20 business days before listing. Our crypto whitepaper guide explains what goes in it.

Since 8 October 2023, anyone marketing crypto to UK consumers, including firms abroad, must use one of four routes set by the FCA: be FCA-authorised, have an authorised firm approve the promotion, be an FCA-registered crypto business, or meet an exemption. Promotions need risk warnings and a 24-hour cooling-off period.

The FCA says the regime applies to all cryptoasset firms marketing to UK consumers, including those based overseas. In practice, a new coin founder who is none of these cannot lawfully run ads or "buy now" campaigns aimed at UK consumers.

Running a service that holds, exchanges or transfers other people's coins is regulated almost everywhere: a money services business in the US, a crypto-asset service provider under MiCA in the EU, and a registered cryptoasset business in the UK.

FinCEN's guidance draws the line clearly: building the software is one thing; using it as a business to accept and transmit value is money transmission. It also says a mining pool paying out rewards is not money transmission, unless the pool also keeps wallets for its members.

Wallets where users hold their own keys are treated differently from services that hold keys for them. If you plan to hold anyone else's coins, plan for a licence.

HeroRPC builds and hosts your blockchain software. We do not sell your coin, promote it, list it on an exchange or hold your private keys, and we do not give legal or tax advice.

• You get the server logins, and premine keys are created in your browser.
• We never hold your private keys, so we never hold your users' coins.
• We make no listing promise. See how listing works.
• We do not advise on law or tax. Talk to a lawyer before you sell.

Planning the coin itself? Start with how to create a cryptocurrency.