The United States Bitcoin Regulation Timeline

1. Mar 18, 2013AML / BSAIn force

   FinCEN issues its first virtual-currency guidance (FIN-2013-G001)

   The Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network published the first U.S. guidance on virtual currencies. Individual users are not money services businesses, but administrators and exchangers are money transmitters and therefore regulated.

   Impact: Exchanges and exchangers took on registration, reporting and recordkeeping duties. It was the first document in which a U.S. regulator addressed Bitcoin explicitly.

   FinCEN FIN-2013-G001 ↗
2. Mar 25, 2014TaxIn force

   IRS Notice 2014-21 — Bitcoin is property

   The Internal Revenue Service issued Notice 2014-21, treating virtual currency as property for federal tax purposes. General property-transaction principles apply to every sale or use of Bitcoin.

   Impact: Gains became taxable on disposal, and wages paid in Bitcoin became reportable compensation. It remains the foundation of U.S. Bitcoin taxation.

   IRS Notice 2014-21 (PDF) ↗
3. Jun 2015State licensingIn force

   New York's BitLicense — 23 NYCRR Part 200

   The New York Department of Financial Services issued the virtual-currency licensing regulation 23 NYCRR Part 200 in June 2015. Any virtual-currency business serving New York residents must hold a separate licence. The exact announcement and effective dates are not confirmed from an official source beyond the NYDFS page, so this timeline lists the month only.

   Impact: The first dedicated virtual-currency licensing regime in the United States. Capital, AML and consumer-protection conditions led several firms to withdraw from New York instead.

   NY DFS virtual currency businesses ↗
4. Dec 1, 2017DerivativesIn force

   CFTC confirms self-certified Bitcoin futures

   The Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued a statement on CME and Cboe (CFE) self-certifying Bitcoin futures and Cantor's Bitcoin binary options. The exchanges announced trading starts of December 10 (Cboe) and December 18 (CME).

   Impact: Bitcoin entered a regulated futures market used by institutions. The CFTC simultaneously warned that the underlying cash markets remained largely unregulated. The exchange launch dates are exchange announcements, not CFTC approval dates.

   CFTC Release 7654-17 ↗
5. May 9, 2019AML / BSAIn force

   FinCEN consolidates CVC guidance (FIN-2019-G001)

   FinCEN gathered its regulations, rulings and guidance since 2011 and applied them to common convertible-virtual-currency business models. It created no new obligations; it restated the existing framework.

   Impact: Clarified which wallet, peer-to-peer and hosting arrangements make a business a money transmitter. An advisory on virtual-currency misuse was published the same day.

   FinCEN FIN-2019-G001 ↗
6. Oct 27, 2020Travel Rule proposalAnnounced / proposed

   FinCEN and the Federal Reserve propose a wider Travel Rule

   FinCEN and the Federal Reserve published a joint proposal to cut the threshold for cross-border transfer recordkeeping from $3,000 to $250 and to cover convertible virtual currencies and legal-tender digital assets explicitly. It was a proposal, never a final rule.

   Impact: It would have pushed identity data requirements down to small cross-border transfers. The proposal was never finalised, and it is a different document from the December 2020 wallet proposal withdrawn in 2026.

   Federal Register 85 FR 68005 ↗
7. Tax year 2020TaxIn force

   The 2020 Form 1040 adds a virtual-currency question

   The tax-year 2020 Form 1040 printed a question on its first page: "At any time during 2020, did you receive, sell, send, exchange, or otherwise acquire any financial interest in any virtual currency?" The exact date the form was introduced is not confirmed from an official source, so this timeline identifies it by tax year.

   Impact: Individual filers had to declare holdings and transactions. It became the IRS's main instrument for collecting taxpayer-level Bitcoin data.

   IRS archived 2020 Form 1040 (PDF) ↗
8. Dec 22, 2020EnforcementIn force

   SEC sues Ripple — the 'security' question goes to court

   The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Ripple Labs and two executives with an unregistered securities offering, alleging more than $1.3 billion was raised through XRP sales. The filing contained allegations, not judicial findings.

   Impact: It hardened the view that Bitcoin itself is not a security, while altcoins became a liability — several were delisted from U.S. platforms in the following months.

   SEC Release 2020-338 ↗
9. Dec 23, 2020Wallet proposalAnnounced / proposed

   FinCEN proposes reporting for unhosted wallets

   FinCEN published a separate proposal requiring reporting, recordkeeping and customer verification for transactions involving unhosted wallets or wallets hosted in specified jurisdictions. This is a different document from the October 2020 Travel Rule proposal.

   Impact: The first attempt to apply identity checks to personal wallets. The proposal was never finalised and was withdrawn on October 6, 2026.

   Federal Register 85 FR 83840 ↗
10. Nov 9, 2021Criminal seizureIn force

    Prosecutors seize 50,676 BTC from James Zhong's residence

    Approximately 50,676.17851897 BTC was seized from James Zhong's residence under a search warrant. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York described the seizure and conviction publicly on November 7, 2022.

    Impact: It shows that most federal Bitcoin holdings arise from criminal proceedings. A seizure is not automatically a completed forfeiture or freely disposable government ownership.

    DOJ / U.S. Attorney SDNY release ↗
11. Nov 15, 2021TaxIn force

    Infrastructure law (PL 117-58) expands the 'broker' definition

    The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act used section 80603 to define a digital-asset "broker" broadly and require reporting from 2023. Critics said the wording could sweep in miners and non-custodial wallet providers.

    Impact: Repeated repeal bills were introduced but none became law. This clause became the statutory basis for the 2024 broker regulations and the partial 2025 repeal.

    H.R.3684 (congress.gov) ↗
12. Mar 9, 2022Executive orderIn force

    EO 14067 — Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets

    President Biden signed Executive Order 14067, ordering a whole-of-government review covering consumer and investor protection, financial stability, illicit finance, competitiveness and energy demand and climate change. Federal Register publication followed on March 14, 2022.

    Impact: Produced a 180-day White House report and legislative recommendations that framed later U.S. policy. It was revoked by Executive Order 14178 on January 23, 2025.

    Federal Register, EO 14067 ↗
13. Feb 9, 2023EnforcementIn force

    Kraken shuts staking programme, pays $30 million

    The SEC charged that Kraken's staking-as-a-service programme — advertising returns of up to 21% a year — was an unregistered securities offering. Kraken agreed to end it immediately and pay $30 million.

    Impact: Staking services for U.S. investors were sharply reduced. It established that services promising investment returns can be securities.

    SEC Release 2023-25 ↗
14. Jun 5, 2023EnforcementIn force

    SEC files 13 charges against Binance

    The SEC charged Binance Holdings, Binance.com, the Binance.US operator and founder Changpeng Zhao with 13 violations, including unregistered exchange, broker-dealer and clearing agency activity and misrepresentations about Binance.US trading controls.

    Impact: U.S. exchange structures were reshaped. The case put the registration status of the platforms themselves, not only the assets listed, at the centre of the debate.

    SEC Release 2023-101 ↗
15. Jun 6, 2023EnforcementIn force

    SEC charges Coinbase

    The SEC charged Coinbase with operating its platform as an unregistered national securities exchange, broker and clearing agency, and with the unregistered offer of its staking-as-a-service programme.

    Impact: The largest U.S. exchange's business model went to court. Platform registration remained the central question of U.S. crypto oversight.

    SEC Release 2023-102 ↗
16. Jan 10, 2024SecuritiesIn force

    SEC approves spot Bitcoin ETPs

    The Commission approved NYSE Arca, Nasdaq and Cboe BZX listings, letting 11 spot Bitcoin ETPs — including Grayscale, iShares Bitcoin Trust and Bitwise — be listed. The decision followed a court ruling that the SEC had failed to explain its earlier denial to Grayscale. Trading began the next day, January 11.

    Impact: Bitcoin became reachable from ordinary brokerage accounts and pension mandates. It was approval of listed products, not an endorsement of Bitcoin itself.

    SEC Chairman's statement (Jan 10, 2024) ↗
17. Jun 28, 2024TaxIn force

    Treasury and IRS issue final broker regulations

    Treasury and the IRS announced final regulations requiring custodial brokers to report digital-asset sales and exchanges, implementing the infrastructure law's reporting framework.

    Impact: It disproves the claim that the infrastructure broker provision had already been repealed in August 2022. These are tax-reporting rules, not a finalisation of the FinCEN Travel Rule.

    IRS news release archive (IR-2024-178) ↗
18. Jan 21, 2025Policy developmentAnnounced / proposed

    SEC creates the Crypto Task Force

    The SEC's acting chair announced the Crypto Task Force, led by Commissioner Hester Peirce, with a remit covering clearer regulatory boundaries, registration paths, disclosure frameworks and public engagement.

    Impact: Signalled a shift from enforcement-only oversight toward building rules. It supplied the stated basis for the Coinbase dismissal and later interpretations.

    SEC Release 2025-30 ↗
19. Jan 23, 2025Executive orderIn force

    EO 14178 revokes EO 14067

    President Trump signed Executive Order 14178, "Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology", revoking EO 14067, creating a digital-asset working group and barring agencies from pursuing a central bank digital currency except where required by law.

    Impact: The federal posture moved from risk management to enablement, providing the basis for the enforcement and accounting changes that followed.

    White House presidential action ↗
20. Jan 23, 2025AccountingIn force

    SEC SAB 122 rescinds SAB 121

    Staff Accounting Bulletin 122 rescinded SAB 121, the 2022 instruction that required entities to carry safeguarded customer crypto-assets on the balance sheet as liabilities. SAB 122 took effect on January 30, 2025.

    Impact: Companies no longer have to bring customer assets onto the balance sheet, lowering the barrier for institutional custody. It did not exempt custodians from other legal or accounting obligations.

    SEC SAB 122 ↗
21. Feb 27, 2025EnforcementIn force

    SEC dismisses the Coinbase action

    The SEC filed a joint stipulation dismissing its civil enforcement action against Coinbase, citing the pending work of the Crypto Task Force, and stated the decision reflected policy reform rather than an assessment of the claims' merits.

    Impact: Effectively ended the 'regulation by enforcement' approach. A court had found the claims adequately pleaded, so dismissal did not erase that finding.

    SEC Release 2025-47 ↗
22. Mar 6, 2025National reserveIn force

    EO 14233 creates a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve

    Executive Order 14233 directed the creation of a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a U.S. Digital Asset Stockpile. Bitcoin finally forfeited in criminal or civil proceedings is custodied by the Treasury as a reserve asset and is not to be sold.

    Impact: The world's largest economy designated Bitcoin a reserve asset. Additional acquisitions were restricted to budget-neutral methods, and the order itself is not a public audited inventory.

    White House presidential action ↗
23. Apr 10, 2025TaxIn force

    H.J.Res.25 becomes PL 119-5, repealing the DeFi broker rule

    House Joint Resolution 25 became Public Law 119-5, disapproving the IRS rule that required brokers regularly providing services effectuating digital-asset sales to report gross proceeds — requirements Congress.gov identifies as applying to decentralised-finance transactions.

    Impact: One implementing rule was removed; the infrastructure law's statutory broker-reporting provisions were not. Custodial broker reporting remained in place.

    H.J.Res.25 (congress.gov) ↗
24. Apr 24, 2025Bank supervisionIn force

    Federal Reserve withdraws crypto supervisory guidance

    The Federal Reserve withdrew its advance-notification guidance for crypto activity and its supervisory nonobjection guidance for dollar tokens, and joined the withdrawal of two interagency crypto-risk statements.

    Impact: Crypto activity returned to ordinary supervisory monitoring rather than separate notification processes. Ordinary banking requirements remained.

    Federal Reserve press release ↗
25. May 29, 2025StakingAnnounced / proposed

    SEC staff publish views on protocol staking

    The SEC's Division of Corporation Finance issued views stating that certain protocol-staking arrangements involving specified public, permissionless proof-of-stake networks do not involve offers or sales of securities under the staff's analysis.

    Impact: Fact-specific staff guidance, not a Commission rule or a blanket exemption for all yield products. It became a reference point for staking product design.

    SEC staff statement (May 29, 2025) ↗
26. Jul 17, 2025LegislationAnnounced / proposed

    House passes the CLARITY Act, 294-134

    The House passed the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act (H.R. 3633) by 294 votes to 134, splitting jurisdiction between the CFTC for digital commodities and the SEC for digital securities.

    Impact: Senate passage would have brought spot markets under a federal framework. House passage alone does not make a bill law.

    H.R.3633 action history (congress.gov) ↗
27. Jul 18, 2025LegislationIn force

    GENIUS Act signed — a federal stablecoin framework

    S. 1582, the GENIUS Act, was signed into law as Public Law 119-27. It sets permitted-issuer status, one-to-one reserve backing and monthly reserve disclosure for payment stablecoins.

    Impact: The first federal law dedicated to digital assets in the United States. Stablecoins came under federal supervision, though implementing regulation was not yet complete.

    S.1582 action history (congress.gov) ↗
28. Jul 29, 2025ETP mechanicsIn force

    SEC permits in-kind creations and redemptions

    The SEC approved in-kind creations and redemptions of crypto ETP shares by authorised participants. The previously approved spot bitcoin and ether products had been limited to cash creation and redemption.

    Impact: Fund mechanics were aligned with other commodity ETPs. It did not create a new bitcoin reserve policy.

    SEC Release 2025-101 ↗
29. Aug 7, 2025EnforcementIn force

    SEC and Ripple drop cross-appeals

    The SEC and Ripple filed a joint stipulation dismissing their cross-appeals in the Second Circuit. The district court's $125,035,150 civil penalty and registration injunction remain in force.

    Impact: Closed a four-year case, though describing it as a complete dismissal of the underlying case or a cancelled penalty would be wrong. The first-instance finding that certain sales were securities still stands.

    SEC Litigation Release 26369 ↗
30. Aug 15, 2025Bank supervisionIn force

    Federal Reserve sunsets novel-activities supervision

    The Federal Reserve announced it would sunset the novel-activities supervision programme, rescinding the 2023 letter that created it and returning monitoring to ordinary supervision.

    Impact: Removed a dedicated supervisory channel, lowering the friction for banks considering crypto involvement. Bank supervision itself continued.

    Federal Reserve press release ↗
31. Mar 11, 2026Agency coordinationIn force

    SEC and CFTC sign a memorandum of understanding

    The SEC and CFTC announced a memorandum of understanding governing coordination and collaboration, covering regulatory harmonisation, oversight and information sharing.

    Impact: Created a framework for joint administration of crypto oversight. It is an interagency commitment, not a congressional transfer of jurisdiction.

    SEC Release 2026-26 ↗
32. Mar 17, 2026SecuritiesIn force

    SEC and CFTC issue a joint interpretation

    The SEC issued "Application of the Federal Securities Laws to Certain Types of Crypto Assets", joined by the CFTC. It states that most crypto assets are not themselves securities and that investment contracts can come to an end. Effective March 23, 2026.

    Impact: Supplied an agency benchmark for the decade-long security-or-commodity question. The CFTC committed to administering the Commodity Exchange Act consistently with it. The staff FAQs that followed are staff views with no legal force.

    SEC interpretive release (S7-2026-09) ↗
33. Jun 1, 2026LegislationUnder review / stalled

    Senate Banking Committee reports the CLARITY Act

    The Senate Banking Committee reported H.R. 3633 with a substitute amendment and without a written report.

    Impact: Committee advancement is not Senate passage or a presidential signature. The action history still recorded the bill as having passed the House.

    H.R.3633 action history (congress.gov) ↗
34. Aug 18, 2026SecuritiesUnder review / stalled

    SEC proposes "Regulation Crypto Assets"

    The SEC proposed Regulation Crypto Assets, including tailored offering exemptions and a conditional investment-contract safe harbour. The rule page records Federal Register publication on August 21 with comments due October 20, 2026.

    Impact: A proposal that would open capital-raising pathways, but not an effective final rule as of this timeline's cut-off. If finalised it would materially change offering rules.

    SEC proposed rule S7-2026-27 ↗
35. Sep 15, 2026LegislationUnder review / stalled

    CLARITY Act fails a Senate procedural vote

    The Senate voted 49 to 50 against invoking cloture on the motion to proceed to H.R. 3633, far short of the 60 needed, with several members of the majority party voting no. A motion to reconsider was entered the same day.

    Impact: Market-structure legislation for this Congress became unlikely. Near-term oversight now rests with SEC and CFTC interpretations and with state licensing regimes.

    H.R.3633 action history (congress.gov) ↗
36. Sep 24, 2026StablecoinsUnder review / stalled

    Federal Reserve seeks comment on two GENIUS Act proposals

    The Federal Reserve requested comment on two proposals implementing the GENIUS Act for Board-supervised payment-stablecoin issuers, covering reserve backing, capital and risk management, and application procedures.

    Impact: The stage where statute becomes implementing rule. These are proposals, not proof that final stablecoin regulations are already in force.

    Federal Reserve press release ↗
37. Oct 1, 2026CustodyUnder review / stalled

    SEC proposes custody rule amendments

    The SEC proposed amendments concerning investment-adviser and regulated-fund custody, including conditional crypto self-custody and the use of state trust companies, alongside recordkeeping and disclosure requirements.

    Impact: A proposal to reshape custody arrangements, not a final unconditional authorisation. If adopted it would change how institutions hold Bitcoin.

    SEC Crypto@SEC activity index ↗
38. Oct 6, 2026AML / BSAIn force

    FinCEN withdraws the unhosted-wallet rule proposal

    FinCEN withdrew its December 23, 2020 notice of proposed rulemaking on recordkeeping, verification and reporting for convertible virtual currency held in unhosted wallets, effective October 6, 2026, and said it would take no further action.

    Impact: Removed the plan to require identity checks and reports on personal-wallet transfers, reaffirming the 2013 position that users are not regulated entities. The separate October 2020 Travel Rule proposal was not part of this withdrawal.

    Federal Register (Oct 6, 2026) ↗
39. Oct 6, 2026AML / BSAIn force

    FinCEN also withdraws the mixing special-measure proposal

    FinCEN withdrew its proposed special measure designating convertible-virtual-currency mixing as a class of transactions of primary money-laundering concern. The withdrawn proposal had been published on October 23, 2023.

    Impact: Removed the last live path to an operative mixing rule, and confirms the measure never went beyond proposal stage.

    Federal Register (Oct 6, 2026) ↗

Dates and status follow each source's publication date. Statutes, executive orders and agency interpretations carry different legal weight. Provided for regulatory context, not investment decisions.