Crypto in California
14 exchanges we have verified serve residents of California, and 90 of the 150 assets we track are available on at least two of them. We have not recorded a jurisdiction-wide restriction on buying cryptocurrency in California. Last verified September 2, 2026.
Verified How we verify
Legal Status and Regulation
California is the exception to the money-transmitter-only pattern. The Digital Financial Assets Law, signed as A.B. 39 and S.B. 401 on October 13, 2023, gives the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation a dedicated license for digital financial asset business activity. The Department began taking applications through the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System on March 9, 2026, and from July 1, 2026 a firm serving California residents must hold a license or have a completed application on file. Federal law comes first: a business that exchanges dollars for crypto on your behalf is a money transmitter under 31 CFR 1010.100(ff)(5) and has to register with FinCEN as a money services business, renewing that registration every two years. California has enacted the Conference of State Bank Supervisors' Money Transmission Modernization Act (A.B. 1116, effective January 1, 2025, in part), the model law that standardizes net worth, surety bond and permissible investment requirements; thirty-one states had adopted it in whole or in part as of the CSBS legislative update dated June 2026. As of September 2026, Binance US lists California among its fully supported states and Kraken records no California restriction on its supported-states page.
Exchanges Available in California
| Exchange | Type | Typical fee on $500 | KYC | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strike | broker | $5.55 | Required | Visit Strike |
| Bitstamp by Robinhood | centralized exchange | $11.00 | Required | Visit Bitstamp by Robinhood |
| Kraken | centralized exchange | — | Required | Visit Kraken |
| Crypto.com Exchange | centralized exchange | — | Required | Visit Crypto.com Exchange |
| Coinbase Exchange | centralized exchange | — | Required | Visit Coinbase Exchange |
| Uphold | broker | — | Required | Visit Uphold |
| Toobit | centralized exchange | — | Not required | Visit Toobit |
| eToro | broker | — | Required | Visit eToro |
| Gemini | centralized exchange | — | Required | Visit Gemini |
| Binance US | centralized exchange | — | Required | Visit Binance US |
Fees are estimated from each exchange’s published schedule for a $500 market buy. Rankings follow our methodology and are not influenced by affiliate relationships.
Popular Assets in California
Buyability in California
The 10 coins we have verified an exchange for in California, graded on how many verified exchanges sell them here and what the cheapest $500 purchase costs. Price never moves a grade.
| Coin | Ticker | Grade | Verified exchanges | Cheapest on $500 | Where to buy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Bitcoin | BTC | A | 14 | $2.00 | Bitcoin here |
 Ethereum | ETH | A | 12 | $2.00 | Ethereum here |
 Solana | SOL | A | 11 | $2.00 | Solana here |
 Chainlink | LINK | A | 11 | $2.28 | Chainlink here |
 Bitcoin Cash | BCH | A | 11 | $2.25 | Bitcoin Cash here |
 Litecoin | LTC | A | 11 | $2.15 | Litecoin here |
 XRP | XRP | A | 10 | $2.01 | XRP here |
 Dogecoin | DOGE | A | 10 | $2.04 | Dogecoin here |
 Uniswap | UNI | A | 10 | $2.14 | Uniswap here |
 Tether | USDT | A | 9 | $2.01 | Tether here |
Tax Overview
The IRS treats cryptocurrency as property under Notice 2014-21, so selling or swapping it produces a capital gain or loss, short-term if you held the asset a year or less. California applies no crypto-specific tax rule, so a gain that is taxable federally is reported on your California individual income tax return and taxed at the state's individual income tax rates. Rates and brackets change from year to year, so check the current California schedule before you file. Accurate as of September 2026.
Guides
- Is Crypto Legal in the United States? State-by-State Overview
Owning, buying, and selling cryptocurrency is legal in every US state, but the exchanges that serve you are licensed state by state, which is why the same exchange can be open to residents of one state and closed to residents of the next.
- Crypto Estate Planning: Making Sure Your Coins Aren't Lost With You
Passing on cryptocurrency requires two things that an ordinary will does not provide on its own, a record of what exists and where, and a route by which the person inheriting it can reach the keys, because no court order can recover a seed phrase nobody wrote down.
- Self-Custody vs Exchange Custody: How to Decide
Deciding between self-custody and exchange custody means choosing which failure you would rather be exposed to, a company that loses or freezes your assets or a mistake of your own that nobody can undo, and most people resolve it by splitting holdings rather than picking one for everything.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is cryptocurrency legal in California?
- 14 exchanges we have verified serve residents of California. We have not recorded a jurisdiction-wide restriction on buying cryptocurrency in California. See the regulation section for detail.
- Which exchanges work in California?
- Strike, Bitstamp by Robinhood, and Kraken serve residents of California.
- Do I pay tax on crypto in California?
- The IRS treats cryptocurrency as property under Notice 2014-21, so selling or swapping it produces a capital gain or loss, short-term if you held the asset a year or less. California applies no crypto-specific tax rule, so a gain that is taxable federally is reported on your California individual income tax return and taxed at the state's individual income tax rates. Rates and brackets change from year to year, so check the current California schedule before you file. Accurate as of September 2026.