BlockBeats News, May 20th, South Carolina Governor Henry McMaster signed the S. 163 bill into law on May 20th, amending the state code to create a friendly environment for cryptocurrency users and businesses.

The bill specifies that individuals and businesses shall not be prohibited from accepting digital assets as a form of payment for goods and services, nor shall they be prohibited from using self-hosted wallets or hardware wallets to self-custody digital assets. Additionally, the bill exempts cryptocurrency used for payments from any additional taxes imposed by state or local governments.

One key provision of the bill is its stance against central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), prohibiting any state agency, commission, department, or political subdivision from accepting or requiring payments in CBDCs, and also from participating in any tests of similar digital currencies issued by the Federal Reserve.

The bill also offers strong support for cryptocurrency mining, prohibiting local governments from restricting mining activities in industrial zones and from setting specific noise limits for mining companies beyond the general noise pollution regulations in that area.

Furthermore, the bill clarifies key definitions including blockchain, digital assets, cryptocurrency mining, staking, wallets, nodes, and more. According to the new law, activities such as cryptocurrency mining, node operation, on-chain application development, and transactions between cryptocurrencies are exempt from money transmission licensing requirements.

Previously, several states including Kentucky had passed similar bills in March 2025 to protect the rights of individuals to hold and manage cryptocurrency assets in self-hosted wallets and to prevent local governments from restricting cryptocurrency mining through discriminatory laws.