Nebraska Cryptocurrency Laws
Relevant Statute
Nebraska Money Transmitters Act; Chapter 8, Article 28
“Money Transmitter” Definition
“Money transmission” means the business of the sale or issuance of payment instruments or stored value or of receiving money or monetary value for transmission to a location within or outside the United States by any and all means, including wire, facsimile, or electronic transfer. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, money transmission also includes bill payment services not limited to the right to receive payment of any claim for another but does not include bill payment services in which an agent of a payee receives money or monetary value on behalf of such payee. 8-2716
Additional Definitions
“Monetary value” means a medium of exchange, whether or not redeemable in money. 8-2715 “Payment instrument” means any electronic or written check, draft, money order, travelers check, or other electronic or written instrument or order for the transmission or payment of money, sold or issued to one or more persons, whether or not such instrument is negotiable. Payment instrument does not include any credit card, any voucher, any letter of credit, or any instrument that is redeemable by the issuer or its affiliates in goods or services of the issuer or its affiliates. 8-2719
Exemptions
(1) The requirement for a license under the Nebraska Money Transmitters Act does not apply to: (a) The United States or any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof; (b) Any post office of the United States Postal Service; (c) A state or any political subdivision thereof; (d)(i) Banks, credit unions, building and loan associations, savings and loan associations, savings banks, or mutual banks organized under the laws of any state or the United States; (ii) Subsidiaries of the institutions listed in subdivision (d)(i) of this subsection; (iii) Bank holding companies which have a banking subsidiary located in Nebraska and whose debt securities have an investment grade rating by a national rating agency; or (iv) Authorized delegates of the institutions and entities listed in subdivision (d)(i), (ii), or (iii) of this subsection, except that authorized delegates that are not banks, credit unions, building and loan associations, savings and loan associations, savings banks, mutual banks, subsidiaries of any of the foregoing, or bank holding companies shall comply with all requirements imposed upon authorized delegates under the act; (e) The provision of electronic transfer of government benefits for any federal, state, or county governmental agency, as defined in Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Regulation E, 12 C.F.R. part 1005, as such regulation existed on January 1, 2013, by a contractor for and on behalf of the United States or any department, agency, or instrumentality thereof or any state or any political subdivision thereof; or (f) An operator of a payment system only to the extent that the payment system provides processing, clearing, or settlement services between or among persons who are all exempt under this section in connection with wire transfers, credit card transactions, debit card transactions, automated clearinghouse transfers, or similar fund transfers. 8-2724
Registration Fees
$1,000 Application Fee
Bond and Insurance Requirements
(1)(a) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, an applicant shall submit, with the application, a surety bond issued by a bonding company or insurance company authorized to do business in this state and acceptable to the director in the principal sum of one hundred thousand dollars. The director may increase the amount of the bond to a maximum of two hundred fifty thousand dollars for good cause. (2) Upon filing of the report required by section 8-2734 and the information required by subdivision (2)(b) of such section, a licensee shall maintain or increase its surety bond to reflect the total dollar amount of money transmitter transactions by the licensee in this state in the most recent four calendar quarters for which data is available before the date of the filing of the renewal application in accordance with the following table. A licensee may decrease its surety bond in accordance with the following table if the surety bond required is less than the amount of the surety bond on file with the department:
Dollar Amount of Money Transmitter Transactions Surety Bond Required
$0.00 to $2,000,000.00 $100,000.00
$2,000,000.01 to $4,000,000.00 $150,000.00
$4,000,000.01 to $6,000,000.00 $200,000.00
Over $6,000,000.00 $250,000.00
8-2727
Bond Alternatives and Additional Insurance Requirements
(5)(a) In lieu of the corporate surety bond or bonds required by this section or of any portion of the principal thereof, the applicant or licensee may deposit, with the director or with such banks or trust companies located in this state or with any federal reserve bank as the applicant or licensee may designate and the director may approve, interest-bearing stocks and bonds, notes, debentures or other obligations of the United States or any agency or instrumentality thereof, or guaranteed by the United States, or of this state, or of a city, county, village, school district, or instrumentality of this state, or guaranteed by this state, to an aggregate amount, based upon principal amount or market value, whichever is lower, of not less than the amount of the required corporate surety bond or portion thereof. The securities shall be deposited and held to secure the same obligations as would the surety bond. (b) The licensee shall have the right, with the approval of the director, to substitute other securities for those deposited and shall be required to do so on written order of the director made for good cause shown. The licensee shall pay the fees prescribed in section 8-602 for pledging and substitution of securities. So long as the licensee so depositing shall continue solvent and is not in violation of the Nebraska Money Transmitters Act, such licensee shall be permitted to receive the interest or dividends on such deposit. (c) The safekeeping of such securities and all other expenses incidental to the pledging of such securities shall be paid by the licensee. All such securities shall be subject to sale and transfer and to the disposal of the proceeds by the director only on the order of a court of competent jurisdiction. 8-2727
Capital Requirements
Each applicant or licensee must have a net worth of not less than fifty thousand dollars, calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.
8-2726
State Comments or Statements
The money transmission definition includes the concept of monetary value, which is defined as a “medium of exchange, whether or not redeemable in money”. Nebraska has multiple pending bils tha would ensure that cryptocurrency is regulated at the state level. All have been indefinitely postponed.