Two free searches and one phone call settle it. Here is where to look, what a real license looks like, and the official regulator for every state.
By Robert Stone, Editor · Updated November 7, 2026 · How we check facts
Search the company's exact legal name on NMLS Consumer Access, the free public lookup run for state regulators. Open the company, find your state, and look for a money transmitter license marked "Authorized to Conduct Business: Yes." Then search FinCEN's MSB Registrant Search. If the company isn't on either, ask your state regulator before you send a cent.
In April 2022, someone asked Washington's financial regulator about a "Bitcoin trader license" issued by the city of Seattle. It had an official look and a registration number on it. The regulator's answer: there is no such license, in Washington or in any other state, and the number pointed at a licensing system that would never have issued it. (Washington DFI)
A certificate in your inbox proves nothing. The record at the regulator does. Here is how to find it.
Look at the bottom of its website or in its terms of service. The legal name is often different from the brand, for example "Example Payments LLC" behind an app called "Example." If you can't find a legal name at all, stop there. Real money businesses publish one.
👉 Your turn: open NMLS Consumer Access and type the legal name in the search box.
NMLS is the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System, the database state regulators use to license companies that handle other people's money. A money transmitter is any business that holds or sends money for you, and that includes most crypto apps and exchanges.
The search is free and needs no login. Open the company's record and look at the list of state licenses. You want three things on the same line: your state, a license type such as Money Transmitter, and Authorized to Conduct Business: Yes. A status like "Approved-Inactive" or "Surrendered" means it can't do business with you there now.
Most businesses that move money in the US must also register with FinCEN, the Treasury's financial crimes office. Search the name on FinCEN's MSB Registrant Search. A match shows the company filed with FinCEN. It does not show the company is licensed or honest. In the FBI's words, a listing "is not a recommendation, certification of legitimacy, or endorsement of the business by any government agency." (FBI, April 2024)
The same FBI alert gives two more tips worth keeping. Be wary of any crypto service that lets you send money without asking for your name, date of birth, address and ID. And an app being in an app store doesn't make it legal. People who use unregistered services can lose access to their money when law enforcement shuts those services down.
Not every state puts every license type on NMLS. If the company doesn't show up, or the record is unclear, go to your state's regulator and use its license search or call its consumer line. This list comes from the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS).
New York licenses crypto firms under its own BitLicense rules. The Department of Financial Services publishes the list of firms it regulates.
A money transmitter license covers holding and sending money. It says nothing about trading advice or investment products. Does the company offer "managed accounts," trading signals or promised returns? Is a person calling themselves your adviser? Then also search the company and the person on FINRA BrokerCheck and the CFTC RED List.
Already sent money? Stop sending more, then follow our guide on how to report a crypto scam.
No. FinCEN registration is a federal filing under the Bank Secrecy Act. It is not a state license, the details come from the company itself, and the FBI says a listing is "not a recommendation, certification of legitimacy, or endorsement." Scammers often wave a FinCEN number around as if it were a license.
Not always. License rules differ from state to state, and some crypto activity doesn't need a money transmitter license. But a company that holds your money or sends it for you, and can't show a license in your state, is a risk you don't need to take. Ask your state regulator; it's free.
Check it yourself instead of trusting the picture. Search the license number and company name on NMLS Consumer Access. Washington's regulator says it knows of no such thing as a "Bitcoin trader license" in any state, and it has warned about fake ones carrying made-up NMLS numbers.
If it serves Americans, it may still need US registration. Search it on NMLS and FinCEN anyway, then check the CFTC RED List, which names foreign firms that appear to need CFTC registration but don't have it.
Found a regulator link that moved? Tell us at news@defimarketjournal.com. We check every link each time we update this page.
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